Blood Bank

The Indian Red Cross Society, A.P. State Branch plays a key role in the voluntary blood donation movement. It has eighteen (18) Blood Banks working in 26 districts of A.P.

Blood Component Separation facilities have been established in 8 IRCS Blood Banks in Krishna, West Godavari, Srikakulam, Ananthapur, Visakhapatnam, Kurnool, Nellore and East Godavari Districts.

ID-NAT facility at a cost of Rs.1.50 crore has been established at Red Cross Blood Bank, Visakhapatnam. This equipment has 2 major benefits
    i. it can identify HIV I & II, Hepatitis B & C viruses that are undetected by conventional tests, and
    ii. the window period for testing is shortened considerably

30% of blood collected in the 18 Blood Banks is given free of cost to Government Hospitals, poor patients who are below the poverty line and to persons affected by Thalassemia and Haemophilia. The majority of the persons receiving blood from IRCS Blood Banks are from the low-income group or are below the poverty line

• Every person’s body contains about five litres of blood (or 10.5 pints)
• There are approximately 450 ml of blood in one unit collected
• About 100,000 new donors are needed every year to meet the demand
• It can take up to 50 units of blood to save a single car crash victim
• It can take eight units a week to help someone battling leukemia
• All it takes is one donation. ‘Give Life’

To make the journey from “arm to arm,” every unit goes through a series of steps and tests to ensure that it is as safe as can be

• Step 1 – Donation
• Step 2 – Processing
• Step 3 – Testing
• Step 4 – Storage
• Step 5 – Distribution