Blood in Chiriqui Panama
Posted by Lee on October 26, 2009
Blood for transfusions is a massive issue in Panama. When people in Boquete Panama have needed blood for emergencies or surgery obtaining blood has been a mission of life or death. The Red Cross has been in Panama since 1917 and at least those of us who come from the US associate the Red Cross with blood and blood banking, not so in Panama.
Still the Panama Red Cross in association with the International Red Cross Red Crescent are beginning to take a role in trying to support blood banking. According to Peter Finley, a twenty year volunteer with the Panama Red Cross, there are now three Hemocenters in Panama. These are located in Panama City, Chitre and David. These centers are operated by MINSA the Ministry of Health. The David Center is currently and temporarily located in Hospital Chiriqui and will be moved to the Regional Hospital when it renovates its facility. The Hemocenters have limited blood supplies and in an emergency will allocate blood to any need. The blood needs to be replaced and inventory built. Blood is a problem in all of the developing world, Panama included.
http://www.boqueteguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/PastedGraphic.pdf
According to Peter prior to 1989 Panama had an active Red Cross and culture of giving blood. That all disintegrated after the invasion. Now the Red Cross is rebuilding and a new chapter is opening in Boquete. The prior chapter closed 15 years ago under a dark cloud. The National Red Cross is starting a campaign called Club 25 to educate young people about the gift of blood.
Partial funding for this effort is coming from GHA, Global Humanitarian Adventures with the help of Boquete resident, Rob Pickett. I have never heard of GHA, and can find little about them online. This Facebook page seems to say more than most.
One of the major missions for the new Red Cross chapter will be encouraging the donations of blood. Panama has a 45 year old law regarding blood donations that excludes most people over 55 and anyone who travels out of the country. That means the resources for acceptable blood are younger locals who do not travel, do not have HIV and many other exclusions. The mission of the this new group is to encourage donations without compensation, a return to a prior era.
Comments
8 Responses to “Blood in Chiriqui Panama”Leave a comment, and if you'd like your own picture to show up next to your comments, go get a gravatar!
Hi Lee,
Thanks for bringing about the blood supply topic again. Recently, we nervoulsy found out that the single apheresis machine in the province is in the Regional Hospital. That´s why there is a crucial difference between getting, for example, 5 platelet units(=50,000) from a single donor in a single procedure at the Regional Hospital, instead of suddenly finding 5 donors to handly get 1 platelet unit (=10,000)from each one. I´m not a health care provider, but I wonder whether a specially equipped camper/vehicle could be included so that donors from far away areas could donate in advance and “in situ”…
Regards,
Editor: A major topic of discussion was a blood mobile to collect donations. We requested the Red Cross determine what would be needed to fund a Bloodmobile.
Thanks to all of the generous foreigner’s in Boquete Panama is a much better place. Keep up the great volunteer work and donations.
Hi Lee,
I recently went to the General Hospital to give blood for an elderly woman going into surgery (it appears my A+ blood is a little rare here in Panama). I arrived at 8:00 am, took a number, and finally walked out of the hospital at 12:00 noon. Not to grumble as I was happy to help, but I wanted to illustrate that there is a long way to go before people will be lining up to drop off a pint in their “spare time”.
I bet Dan refers to the same lady whose grand daughter had to hurry back from California to donate A+ as well. Unbelievable!
Right you are, Hilda. The bad news is that the grand daughter told the truth about how long she had been back in Panama after rushing back (24 hours), so she was not allowed to donate blood – not even to her own family!
Hi, this is Robb Pickett of GHA. You can learn more about us on at http://www.gogha.org
We are a US non-profit organization that supports numerous service agencies here in Panama including the Panama Red Cross. We provide these agencies with volunteer & logistical support.
Our National Partnership with the Red Cross allows us great access to issues that need our support. The Boquete Red Cross Chapter will hold a “Town Meeting” on Saturday, Nov. 7 from 9-12. location TBA
To find out more visit us online, email me at rpickett@gogha.org or give me a call 6907.0781
Hi Lee
I am glad that you are working with us to not only bring this topic up for further discussion but to be part of the solution. I am sorry that you had to leave the meeting early when this topic was discussed since you might have had (or taken later) the opportunity to get to know more about Robb Pickett and GHA and their ongoing contributions not only to this matter but several other volunteer matters in Boquete/Chiriqui. I hope you have the chance pursue this meeting in the near future so that we can continue to work together. In the meantime I hope all the readers will have a chance to get involved with Red Cross and GHA as we work to find a solution.