AV 41 Blood for Glory 7 .pdf

THE ASCLEPIAN VOICE
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE ORDER OF ASCLEPIUS : WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY—COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

VOLUME 1 ISSUE NO. 41

Article by: Raissa Ana Marie Juntado

S

tarted in 2012 as an
inter-college blood drive,
this year marks the 7th time
that the Order of Asclepius
has held a successful blood drive
campaign at Roxas Hall in partnership
with the Philippine National Red
Cross Iloilo Chapter. The annual blood
drive held last February 4, 2016
sought to raise awareness among the
people about the need for blood in
health care settings and the value
of saving a life through a blood
donation.
The lack of blood donors in the
province is a very serious problem. In
a meeting held at the capitol last
January 12, 2016, Dr. Dennis Roy
Pasadilla of the PRC – Iloilo chapter
stated that there were only 4,395
donors last year. This was below the
target limit of 19,441 donors – the

population of 1% of people residing
in the province.
This year’s blood drive started at
7:30am and ended at 3:00pm with all
the applicants undergoing the
meticulous screening in order to
assure that the blood donation
process was both safe for them and
the recipient. The whole process of
blood donation took an average of 25
minutes with the actual donation time
taking less than 10 minutes. Each
donor gave around 350 – 450ml of
blood depending on their weight and
blood pressure.
Although the turnout was lower
this year as compared to the last
drive held on August 19, still
there was still quite a number of
donor, especially first time donors.
For this year’s blood drive,
there were a total of 42 registrants

with 27 units of blood collected.
Majority of the blood donors were
Type O and Type A, comprising nine
(9) donors each. There were also
seven (7) Type B and two (2) Type AB
donors.
Of the 27 medical students that
donated blood, 10 of which were from
Batch Altera Deo Servimus (ADeoS), 10
from Batch Excelsior, four (4) from
Batch Medicus Devoveo (MD), and
three (3) from Batch Soli Gloria Dei
(SGD).
As long as one is healthy, one can
donate regularly every three months.
For each blood donation, there are
potentially three lives that are saved.
The Order of Asclepius encourages
everyone to participate and donate
blood. As doctors and doctors to be,
we should remember that it is in our
blood to save lives. #