Our donors and staff share their hearts - P6 - Western Cape Blood ...
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
FR ASE
APRIL 2018 | VOLUME 18
PL
E
EE TA
CO KE
PY ONE
Our donors and staff share their hearts — P6
Blood Buddy makes
a splash at CANSA
Shavathon P7
Clinic reminders
via email P9
Schools go head-to-
head in Battle of the
Blood Donors P13
t: 021 507 6300 • www.wpblood.org.za
FROM THE EDITOR
First Quarter: all about sharing
The first quarter of 2018 is done and dusted and although so
much has happened, there are much we are looking forward to!
The month of February - or rather the month of love - saw
plenty of donors sharing their hearts with us on our social media
pages. We are sharing some of the photos with you.
We have been fortunate enough to be part of the CANSA
Shavathon during February. One of our own staff
members, Charnette Hermanus, donated a whopping
94cm of her hair to this great cause.
In March we had Peer Promoter training at our
Head Office as well as in our regions. We asked
donors to share their inspirational stories with
us, and we will be sharing one such remarkable
story with you. Our team of volunteers had
loads of fun supporting cyclists at the 40th
Cape Town Cycle Tour recently.
Finally, we also have an interesting article in
our donor health section about why staff don’t
wear gloves during the donation process.
Happy reading!
Michelle Vermeulen
Production Team:
EDITOR IN CHIEF /
PRODUCTION EDITOR
Michelle Vermeulen
WPBTS Corporate Public Relations Officer
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Irene van Schalkwyk
WPBTS Manager: Promotions, Planning and PR
ART DIRECTOR
Christoff van Wyk
WPBTS Graphic Design & Multimedia Officer
Contributors:
Zaida Palm Arlecia November
Mother of Recipient WPBTS Promotions Officer, George Region
Bongiwe Sipunzi Irene van Schalkwyk
WPBTS Public Relations Promotions Officer WPBTS Manager: Promotions, Planning and PR
Michelle Vermeulen Dr Caroline Hilton
WPBTS Corporate Public Relations Officer WPBTS Transfusion Medical Specialist
Melanie Rossouw Candice Sinclair
WPBTS Promotions Officer, Cape Town Region WPBTS Promotions Officer, Worcester Region
Craig Hicks Marike Gevers
WPBTS Promotions Officer, Cape Town Region WPBTS Education Officer
2
RECIPIENT STORY
Raqeeb's Journey
M y son Raqeeb was diagnosed
with aplastic anaemia in 2016.
This happened after I noticed
easy bruising and a petechial rash (bleeding
under the skin). I monitored this and googled
his symptoms. This led me to have a blood test
done and the results were astounding. The
laboratory insisted we redo the test the next
day. We were then sent to hospital because
he needed a platelet transfusion ASAP, as his
platelet count was 6.
We were then instructed to see a
haematologist for further investigation.
Raqeeb was set to have his first bone marrow
biopsy on 15 August 2016. He subsequently
had a second bone marrow biopsy a few
weeks later and was ultimately diagnosed
with aplastic anaemia.
He received antithymocyte globulin
treatment (ATG) in March 2017 and in July
we were informed that it was unsuccessful.
During this time he received many blood and
platelet transfusions.
He received another bone marrow biopsy
on 30 November 2017 before starting another
round of ATG treatment. It was then discovered
his aplastic anaemia had transformed to
myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).
We have been searching for a stem
cell match for him and to date we have
unfortunately been unsuccessful locally and
internationally. We have been advised to do
a haploidentical transplant. If we wait his
condition could transform into leukemia.
Raqeeb is currently transfusion dependent
and I am therefore forever grateful to every
person who donates blood and platelets.
I used to be a regular donor but due to me
having TB meningitis in 2016 I am unable to
donate until August 2019. This is devastating
as donating blood is extremely close to my
heart.
Zaida Palm
3
DONOR HEROES
by Bongiwe Sipunzi
NICOLE LE ROUX JOHN WILLIAMS JUNAID ONKERS
Number of donations: 62 Number of donations: 68 Number of donations: 206
Why do you donate blood? Why do you donate blood? Why do you donate blood?
“I’m a representative of the blood bags “I started donating when I was in “I heard advertisements on radio
and machinery used by WPBTS, that’s how varsity. Donating blood is an act requesting people to donate blood.
I got involved in donating blood.” of social duty.” That’s when my journey started
as a platelet donor.”
Message to potential donors: Message to potential donors:
“I have referred some of my friends “People need to be educated Message to potential donors:
and colleagues to start donating; I about blood donations and “I have managed to convince my
educate them on the importance also commit to it.” daughter to donate; she will be
and need of platelets.” visiting one of the clinics soon.”
MICHELLE CUPIDO GERRIT MOUTEN
Number of donations: 100 Number of donations: 49
Why do you donate blood? Why do you donate blood?
“I donate because people need blood.” “I always wanted to donate.”
Message to potential donors: Message to potential donors:
“You can save a life by donating, “Donating is about doing something good
so why not?” that will save people’s lives.”
4
NURDEEN THOMSON EBEN LE ROUX RENNE MARKIN
Number of donations: 1 Number of donations: 112 Number of donations: 97
Why do you donate blood? Why do you donate blood? Why do you donate blood?
“I saw the blood donation clinic advert “I used to be a regular blood donor “My daughter had a heart operation,
in the Spine Road School App and and my wife a platelet donor. and on the stretcher to the operating
decided to support my son’s school by She made me aware of the need for room I saw that there was a bag of
donating blood. When I heard the call to platelets and I followed suite.” blood. I knew then that someone
donate blood due to low stock levels sacrificed their time to donate so that
I wanted to donate blood.” Message to potential donors: my child could be saved. This is when I
“I try to motivate people to donate.” started to donate blood.”
Message to potential donors:
“Donate because it is a noble thing Message to potential donors:
to do as it helps to save lives.” “Donating blood is quick and easy and
the simplest way of helping.”
GUY SALMON WARREN GEORGE
Number of donations: 182 Number of donations: 100
Why do you donate blood? Why do you donate blood?
“I started donating about 20 years ago “To help people in need.”
and I do it to help save lives.”
Message to potential donors:
Message to potential donors: “Instead of spending time going to
“It is very easy, and the professional the casino, spend time donating
nurses make sure that you are blood. It's more rewarding.”
comfortable when donating.”
5
FEATURE STORIES
#ShareYourHeart
by Michelle Vermeulen
Our donors and staff captured their hearts during the month of
love by posting photos of themselves at clinics. Donors not only
shared their hearts but gave the ultimate gift of love by donating
blood at a blood donation clinic of their choice. Here we have
some photos of our donors during the campaign.
Cape Town Cycle Tour 2018
by Michelle Vermeulen
The 2nd refreshment station at the
40th Cape Town Cycle Tour was hosted by
the Western Province Blood Transfusion
Service, which took place on the 11th of
March 2018.
The team of volunteers happily arrived
at the refreshment station in the early
hours of the morning, ready to cheer the
cyclists on. The team continuously cheered
and spurred the cyclists on despite the
rising temperatures on the day. They
poured countless cups of water, Powerade
and Coca-Cola to keep the cyclist hydrated
and energised.
WPBTS had 8 cyclists who cycled in their
colours – well done to these cyclists who
completed the race successfully.
Team WPBTS had a tremendous amount
of fun and can’t wait to be part of the
electric atmosphere again next year.
6
Living out loud and in colour
at the CANSA Shavathon
by Melanie Rossouw
“It was such
an exciting event
and touching to see
the generosity of
people in support
of the cause.”
- Pamella Ntseke
An array of colours and flying hair could be wigs for cancer patients, which are provided
seen at the 15th annual CANSA Shavathon at no cost.
that took place on Saturday, 24 February 2018 The teams from WPBTS hosted an exhibition
at selected shopping centres around South stand and also encouraged people to sign up
Africa in support of those affected by cancer. as blood donors during the event. According
A few staff members (including Blood to Aishah Salie, Promotions Supervisor at
Buddy!) from WPBTS joined in to support WPBTS it was fulfilling to see how people took
this important event that raises funds and the time to touch lives and impact others in
awareness in aid of cancer patients. need of their support at the CANSA Shavathon.
For a R50 donation (R25 for children under The whole concept of spraying or shaving
12 years), people could spray or, for the brave your hair in solidarity with those affected by
of heart, shave their hair. If the ponytail cancer also ties in with our philosophy here
measured 25 cm or longer the hair could be at WPBTS. WPBTS is looking forward to being
donated. All hair donations that meet the a part of this important cause for many more
necessary requirements are used to make years to come.
7
REGIONAL NEWS
Bayside Mall
receives Certificate
of Appreciation
by Craig Hicks
Bayside Mall and the Western Province Blood Transfusion have a
relationship which goes all the way back to 1995 when we started
our very first donation clinic at the mall. Above (from left to right): Aadilah Ryklief (Centre Manager), Craig
It started out as our official Tableview residential clinic, and Hicks (WPBTS Promotions Officer), CHelsea Stadler (Marketing
took place in the exhibition space outside Woolworths. The clinic Manager), and Chantè Schoeman (Exhibitions Co-ordinator).
originally started from mid-afternoon and ran through to the
evening where donors could conveniently combine their blood
donation session with some shopping, a movie or a bite to eat! accommodated us for many promotional campaigns, such as the
From the beginning, Bayside also hosted many special blood Blood Donor Month exhibitions in June, donor registration sessions
donation events over weekends and public holidays, where and recently as part of the CANSA Shavathon where we registered
we would bring our caravan and gazebos and set up our blood new blood donors and supported this great initiative.
clinic in their parking area. As a token of thanks, WPBTS, recently handed over a certificate
Over the years, we’ve maintained a very close relationship with of appreciation to Chantè Schoeman, the Bayside Mall Exhibitions
Bayside Mall. Currently we have a regular donation clinic every 2 Co-ordinator.
months in the Mr Price Home exhibition space, as well as extra We’d like to thank Bayside Mall for contributing to saving
donation clinics during times when we’re often short of blood, thousands of lives over many years by regularly opening their
such as Easter and Christmas. doors to us. We look forward to many more years of saving lives
Besides our regular donation clinics, they have also graciously together!
Sincere thanks to Milestone Donors
by Arlecia November THE FOLLOWING DONORS RECEIVED
CERTIFICATES:
A special function was held on 5 February
2018, at Fancourt Hotel & Spa in George, to 150: Jacobus Barnard, Albertus de
honour our Milestone Donors. These donors Lange; Willem Henning; Mattheus J/V
have donated 150 or more units of blood in Rensburg; Charl V/D Bergh; Ignatius
the past two years. Smith; Keith Lucas; Colin Damons;
The evening was held to thank donors for Hammie Renken; Felecia Scholtz;
their remarkable contribution and for saving Patricia Trantraal
many patients’ lives. 26 donors, together with
their partners, were present and the evening 175: Helena Coetsee; Roelof
started off with a few speeches and thereafter Engelbrecht; Heini Rapp; Petro Smith;
donors were treated to a buffet dinner. Danie van Zyl; Pieter Badenhorst;
We had the privilege to host motivational Pieter du Plessis
speaker, Anthony Noble, as our guest speaker
at the event. Anthony is a donor at the 200: Arno Els; Andrew van Zyl;
George Branch and has donated 112 units Patrick Roger
in the past. One of his many hobbies is, to
Above: Mr Adriaan Booysen receiving
his certificate for his 275th Milestone motivate his audience through paintings. All 225: Neville Myburgh; Frances Warner;
Donation from Nicky du Toit, WPBTS his paintings (oil) have a specific message and Randolph Young; Koos Cronje
Chief Financial Officer. the message he brought to the audience was
‘Grace”. He did the painting whilst talking to 250: Jeffrey Swartz
the audience, and it took him 22 minutes to
finish it. He praised the donors for making a 275: Adriaan Booysen
difference in many peoples’ lives.
8
Donor
Satisfaction
Survey
by Irene van Schalkwyk
The third annual electronic donor survey was conducted during
November 2017 to measure the levels of donor satisfaction at all WPBTS
blood donor clinics.
A total of 571 donors from the Western Cape took part in the survey.
Participants had the opportunity to rate their satisfaction on the following
10 aspects of the blood donation process and their recent experiences.
Participants could also give additional comments and suggestions:
RESULTS OF THE SURVEY:
Communication prior to donation (SMS and call
centre) – only for repeat donors. – 99%
Visibility of the clinic (including directional and
promotional signage). – 87%
Reception and greeting on arrival. – 93% You’ve got
Professional appearance of staff. – 96%
Friendliness and helpfulness of staff. – 97%
mail!
Professional appearance and cleanliness of by Michelle Vermeulen
donation area. – 97%
Refreshments offered after donation. – 93% A new e-mail communication option has
recently been launched at WPBTS. Donors
Post-donation advice given and thanked for now have the option of being informed
donation. – 93% of upcoming clinics via phone calls, sms
or e-mails.
Time it took to make your donation. (For whole
All our donors need to be informed of
blood donation the process usually takes 45 when our clinics will be happening and
minutes and for platelet donation about two whether any changes have occurred
hours.) – 96% with regards to the time, date or
venue. Our Customer Care Agents will
Likeliness that you will recommend blood donation ensure that all our donors have made at
based on your experience. – 97% least one selection, keeping the line of
communication open. Should you wish to
change or add any of the options please
With a 95% overall score, donors are generally happy with the service indicate this on our donor questionnaire.
they received at blood donor clinics. It was also very positive that 97% of Should you wish to find out more about our
donors would recommend WPBTS to people considering donating blood. communication options please contact us
An area for improvement (90% and below) include the visibility of clinics on (021) 507 6300 or sms ‘Blood’ to 33507
and signage. and we will get back to you.
Thank you for the time and assistance of those donors who completed WPBTS have also sent out the first
the survey. The results from this survey informs the WPBTS strategy electronic Blood Buzz in January and will
review and business planning processes, and guide decision-making. We continue to do so with the next edition.
are always trying to improve our service to you, our valued blood donor.
9
DONOR HEALTH
E veryone’s donation experience is different. Some
donors are ready to bounce back to work or school
straight after their donation, while others may take a
little while to regain their strength. This will depend on how
quickly the compensatory mechanisms in your body take to adjust
to the loss of about 475ml of blood from your donation.
Post
To optimise your recovery following a blood donation, WPBTS
recommends the following:
n a t i o n • Have a snack after your donation and drink plenty of water in
Do
the following 24 hours.
• Avoid heavy lifting with the arm that you donated with as this
e
Adv ic
may aggravate bleeding.
• Steer clear of strenuous exercise in the 24 hours following
donation.
Unfortunately some donors can experience negative effects
ilton
r Caroline H following donation, such as bruising, arm pain, feeling weak or
by D delayed fainting. Please remember not to remove the plaster
from your arm too early. If bleeding recurs, raise your arm and
place pressure over the site of bleeding for several minutes. Also,
if you feel faint, lie down with your legs elevated and drink plenty
of water.
Please contact the WPBTS staff if you have specific queries
about your post-donation experience – Sr Kim Strutt (WPBTS Clinic
Supervisor) on kims@wpbts.org.za, (021) 507 6355, or Dr Caroline
Hilton (Transfusion Medical Specialist) on caroline@wpbts.org.za,
(021) 507 6329.
To Glove or
Not to Glove?
by Dr Caroline Hilton
It is concerning to some of our donors when they notice that our
clinic staff do not always wear gloves. The predominant worry is
about cross-contamination of infection between staff and donors.
Please be assured that hand hygiene is very important to us and
strict hand-washing procedures are meticulously outlined in our
work instructions. However, our company policy states that the
use of gloves by clinic staff is optional. Some nursing staff or
phlebotomists feel that using gloves impairs their ability to feel
the donor’s vein accurately so prefer not to wear them. Gloves
can therefore be used at the discretion of the staff member and
should not replace stringent hand hygiene practices. There are
also strict work instructions in place for needling donors that
prevent the staff from touching the needle prior to insertion into
the donor’s arm. Gloves are readily available at all clinics.
We would never deliberately compromise our donors’ safety
and comply with international standards with regard to donation
procedures. If you notice that our staff members are not adhering
to hand-washing practices or you have any other concerns about
our hygiene standards, please inform our Clinic Supervisor (Sr Kim
Strutt) on kims@wpbts.org.za or (021) 507 6355.
10HEALTHY RECIPE
Oats, apricot and
raisin cookies
Many of our donors struggle with low iron.
Try this delicious cookie recipe packed with
iron rich raisins and apricots.
Recipe by Good To Know.
24 Cookies
Ready in:
30 min
Ingredients:
• 225g self-raising flour
• 175g oats
• 5ml (1tsp) baking powder
• 250g butter, softened
• 200g caster sugar
• 2.5ml (½ tsp) vanilla essence
• 100g raisins
• 100g no-need-to-soak apricots, chopped
Preparation:
• Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Lightly grease
two large baking sheets. Mix the flour,
oats and baking powder together. Beat
the butter, caster sugar and vanilla
essence together until creamy. Stir in the
flour mixture and dried fruit and mix to a
dough using your hands.
• Divide and roll the mixture into about 24
balls and place well apart on the baking
sheets. Flatten each ball with your
fingertips to about 6mm thickness.
• Bake for 12-14 mins until golden. Cool
on the baking sheets for a few mins until
firm enough to transfer to a wire rack.
Leave to cool completely.
www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/139654/Oat--apricot-and-raisin-cookies
11YOUTH
Spotlight on Ms. Adri Brits
WPBTS Donor Representative at Tygerberg Medical School
by Melanie Rossouw
A t WPBTS, our Donor Representatives do their best
to ensure that everything is in order before, during
and after the planned blood donation drive at their
organisation and work hard to facilitate the smooth running of
clinics every time.
Ms. Adri Brits, our Donor Representative from Tygerberg
Medical School, is one of our exemplary Donor Representatives
with an exceptional track record of not only producing
assistance of the highest quality but also going above
and beyond the call of duty when it comes to blood
donation clinics at Tygerberg Med School. With FUN FACTS:
her genuinely loving and caring personality, Adri’s favourite
Adri is passionate about helping people and song is “You are the
does whatever is necessary to help without reason” by Calum
even giving it a second thought. “To me, blood Scott and if she could
donation means second chances and for some, have any super power
sometimes the only chance” she says. she would want to be
When asked about her life’s philosophy, Adri able to fly!
quotes: “Every moment in life is an act of faith”
and 1 Corinthians 13: “What remains is faith, hope
and love, but most of all, love” and credits her parents
as her role models in life. In her spare time, you can find Adri
somewhere on a road trip along the road less travelled with her
favourite music playing, a camera in her hand and all the time
in the world to stop and capture every single moment from that
perfect angle. We look forward to seeing more of Ms. Adri Brits so
watch this space!
12Roll up your sleeves because it is time for the
Battle of the Blood Donors where educational
institutions challenge each other and big
rivals will go head-to-head.
The objective of this campaign is to increase new donors and
ultimately blood collections. The competition will start 10 April
and end 31 May and the winners will be announced in June.
So how will it work? The winner will be determined by a pro-
rata formula looking at the potential eligible donors, number of
new donors, attendance and units collected. Extra promotional
activities and creative initiatives will also from part of the
deciding criteria. A trophy will be given to the winner of each
challenge. We will also keep a tally of all the winners of the
individual challenges and award the prestigious title and grand
prize to the ultimate winner.
So what are you waiting for?! Let’s see who will give the most
blood and become the first champions of the Battle of the Blood
Donors!
13YOUTH
Peer Promoters:
our proud
blood donor
ambassadors
by Marike Gevers
We all know that peers have a great influencing role and therefore
who better to influence the youth than the youth to donate blood.
That’s why WPBTS started the Peer Promoter Programme back
in 2011. A Peer Promoter acts as a blood donor ambassador and
through peer education helps WPBTS supply a safe sustainable
blood supply.
In order to empower these Peer Promoters we offer bi-annual
Peer Promoter Training and on Wednesday 7 March we welcomed 8
different educational institutions at our head offices in Pinelands.
The learners get to actively participate in a training session
where they come up with ways to promote their blood donation
clinics and how to best educate their peers. After the training
they depart on an educational tour where they get to see how
blood is processed and tested.
They left knowing how to educate, recruit, promote and help
set up a blood donation clinic but most importantly they left
knowing how to make a difference.
14Worcester Peer Promoter Training
by Candice Sinclair
On 20 February 2018, The Worcester
Regional Office hosted their annual
Peer Promoter Training for 2018, for all
educational institutions in Worcester.
The schools that attended included HTS
Drostdy, Worcester Gimnasium, Worcester
Secondary School and Montana High
School.
The day started off with photo sessions
of each peer promoter group. The peer
promoters were able to engage with
students from other schools who will be
performing the same function.
After an informative session, the
students then proceeded on a tour of the
building, of which they visited the clinic,
being the starting point of a donation,
and also what exactly happens behind
the scenes; comprising of the blood bank
and also the components lab. This tour stored, of which the temperature is 5°
definitely put it all into perspective, as the C.The freezer room is where plasma is
students obtained a sound understanding of stored and the temperature is -25° C.
how certain processes work at The Western Considering the weather in Worcester on
Province Blood Transfusion Service. The this day, they enjoyed the icy sensation! We sincerely enjoyed hosting our peer
students then visited the cold room and The students had great fun, as they promoters and have the utmost faith in
the freezer room. The cold room is where consumed a great amount of knowledge them for the upcoming blood drives for
the packed cells and blood samples are about blood donation and transfusion. 2018!
YouthTube2018: Join the action
#YouthTube2018 challenges
the youth to create a short
film between 30 seconds
and 3 minutes, promoting
blood donation. Each year
the winners have won great
camera gear sponsored by
Canon and Orms. Save the
date: 27 July – 17 September
and join in on the action!
15INTERNATIONAL NEWS
by Irene van Schalkwyk
AUSTRALIA | DECEMBER 2017
Donating blood could treat Australia’s
most common genetic disorder
New research from the Murdoch Children’s Research
Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne, in a ninety-four participant
study, has found people suffering from haemochromatosis,
can be treated by donating blood.
Haemochromatosis is a condition caused by too much
absorption of iron from people’s diets and can cause liver
cirrhosis, liver cancer and diabetes. It often goes untreated
and undetected because its conditions are similar to those
of many other diseases, and include fatigue, depression and
joint pain.
Senior author of the study and Director of the Bruce
Lefroy Centre at MCRI, Professor Marin Delatycki says that
donating blood is a form of treatment because removing
red blood cells during the process also removes iron from
people’s bodies.
Source: www.tenplay.com.au/news/national/
december-2017/donating-blood-could-treat-australias-most-
common-genetic-disorder-study-finds
USA | JANUARY 2018
Clinical trial on
plasma infusion
for Alzheimer’s
shows promise
An early-phase clinical trial has shown some signs suggesting
improvement in the condition of mild to moderate Alzheimer's
disease sufferers after receiving blood plasma infusions from
young donors. The assessments were based on caregiver
reports and the number of participants in the study — 18 —
was small. Further studies on larger numbers of participants
will be necessary before conclusions about efficacy can
be reached.
Source: www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/323/172462.
html
16USA | JANUARY 2018
‘Brother in Arms’ program gives crews
new tool to fight blood loss
The South Texas Blood and Tissue Center launched the
"Brothers In Arms" program that transfer military battlefield
research to civilian use.
This new type of blood transfusion was originally developed
for military use in Iraq and Afghanistan. The program will give
medical helicopter crews a new tool to fight blood loss and
save the lives of critically injured patients. It combines the
practice of pre-hospital transfusions with units of whole blood
rather than transfusing individual blood components of red
cells, plasma or platelets. The blood carried will be type O
positive from male donors only.
"What the military has shown is that before they started
transfusing whole blood, the chance of survival was as low as
20 or 30 percent. Once they started transfusing whole blood,
it raised it to 60 percent," said South Texas Blood and Tissue
Center CEO Elizabeth Waltman.
Source: www.ksat.com/health/brothers-in-arms-program-
gives-crews-new-tool-to-fight-blood-loss
CHINA | FEBRUARY 2018
China ends reciprocal
blood donation
China is set to end its decades-long of the type they want. After showing
reciprocal blood donation system by certificates of blood donation to their
the end of March. The decision was hospitals, patients can be rewarded
made after careful assessment of the with the same amount of blood to be
overall blood supply status across the used on themselves. This system gave
country. “Judging from the nationwide birth to “blood heads,” who pay people
developments of non-remunerated to donate blood at a state blood bank
blood donation, combined with experts’ and sell their donation certificates to
research and analysis, China is ready to patients in need.
stop reciprocal blood donation,” the
top health authority said. Source: www.supchina.com/
Under the reciprocal blood donation 2018/02/14/china-ends-reciprocal-
system, patients in need of blood can blood-donation-exacerbating-the-
ask their family members, friends, or countrys-chronic-blood-shortage-
anyone they know to donate blood problem/
17WPBTS
WPBTS: Water Continuity Plan
by Michelle Vermeulen
The Western Province Blood Transfusion Service has been working hard
to ensure that all measures are taken to reduce water usage as well as
ensuring that we remain operational should Day Zero happen.
What has WPBTS done so far? What if DAY ZERO arrives?
WPBTS abides by all the restrictions in accordance with Level 6B For critical laboratory testing and blood bank services to remain
Water Restrictions, and this includes the following: operational:
• All pool vehicles, caravans, trailers and our bus are cleaned • Water will be drawn from our registered borehole. This
with waterless products. water will be pre-filtered to remove iron and other metals
• Water-efficient aerators have been fitted to all taps to and to correct the pH. It will then be purified with Reverse
minimise usage. (It has been shown to reduce water flow Osmosis (RO) and supplied to our technical laboratories.
from 20-30 litres to 6-10 litres per minute.) • The non-drinking excess water will be stored, UV treated,
• Water tanks have been installed to harvest any rainwater. kept circulated and filtered for use, mainly for the flushing
• The water we use for staff and blood donors is bottled at a of toilets.
spring and is not municipal water. The drinking water for • Our weekly operational water supply requirement is 20 000
staff will be limited to onsite consumption and we are also litres, while the water storage capacity at the Services HQ
appealing to blood donors to consume water sparingly at is 60 000 litres.
our clinics. • Even though we will not be guaranteed a reticulated water
• Lily dome waterless urinals have been fitted in all men’s supply like some other critical services (i.e. hospitals and
bathrooms. clinics), the Provincial Health Operational Centre (PHOC)
• Hand-sanitizer units have been installed in all bathrooms. will supply emergency (water tanker) water should our
• In the next month a flushmaster system will be installed borehole fail.
that uses excess Reverse Osmosis (RO) water.
WPBTS has all the necessary steps in place to be operational
should Day Zero arrive and we will continue to save water
where we can.
18Where and when is no
longer an excuse.
Save lives
by finding out
when and where
you can donate
blood with the
WP Blood
app.
Powered by andDonate blood
4 TIMES
in 2018
1st Donation
Receive this
complimentary
lunch bag as a
reminder of
2nd Donation
how much we
4th Donation
appreciate you.
Donors over the age of 65 will receive
the gift on their 3rd donation.
#CommitTo2018
3rd Donation
t: 021 507 6300 • www.wpblood.org.zaYou can also read
