We know that we all have our individual blood groups. A family does not have same blood group but some members of family may have the same type of blood group. Blood group helps in establishing what kind of blood we have and if needed, which blood group type person can donate blood.

WHAT IS A BLOOD GROUP?

Let us see what a blood group is in medical terms. As per Wikipedia, “Blood group is classification of based on the presence or absence of inherited antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells (RBCs). These antigens may be proteins, carbohydrates, glycoproteins, or glycolipids, depending on the blood group system.”

There are about 30 known human blood group systems recognised my medical fraternity.

Blood group of a person will not change in his entire lifetime exception to the fact that he may receive blood from another blood group type and his blood group may change on the account of that.

The AB and RH systems are important for blood transfusions.

Blood type is also made up in your body by combination of 2 genes from your parents-One gene from each.

TYPE OF BLOOD GROUP

A blood group has 4 types. They are Group A, Group B, Group AB and Group O. They are further categorised by positive (+) and Negative (-) as per their characteristics like:

1. A+ (A Positive)
2. A-(A Negative)
3. B+ (B Positive)
4. B- (B Negative)
5. AB+ (AB Positive)
6. AB- (AB Negative)
7. O- (O negative)
8. O+ (O Positive)

Blood Group A

If a person belongs to the blood group A, he has A antigens on the surface of your red blood cells and B antibodies in his blood plasma.  A group A individual can receive blood only from individuals of groups A or O (with A being preferable), and can donate blood to individuals with type A or AB.

Blood Group B

If a person belongs to the blood group B, he has B antigens on the surface of his red blood cells and A antibodies in your blood plasma.  A group B individual can receive blood only from individuals of groups B or O (with B being preferable), and can donate blood to individuals with type B or AB.

Blood Group AB

If a person belong to the blood group AB, he has both A and B antigens on the surface of his red blood cells and no A or B antibodies at all in his blood plasma

An individual with type AB blood can receive blood from any group (with AB being preferable), but cannot donate blood to either A or B group. They are known as universal recipients.

Blood group 0

If a person belong to the blood group 0, he has neither A or B antigens on the surface of his red blood cells but he has both A and B antibodies in his blood plasma.

A group O individual can receive blood only from a group O individual, but can donate blood to individuals of any ABO blood group (i.e., A, B, O or AB). That is why they are called UNIVERSAL DONORS

HOW TO FIND OUT THE BLOOD GROUP OF THE PERSON.

 There is a scientific process of knowing the blood group of the person. If the blood group of a person is mistakenly diagnosed, and he is given the wrong blood donation, his life may be at stake or in danger.

^ If you mix the blood with three different reagents including any of the three different antibodies, A, B or Rh antibodies you will get to know the blood group of the person.

^ Then you take a look at what has happened. In which mixtures has agglutination occurred? The agglutination indicates that the blood has reacted with a certain antibody and therefore is not compatible with blood containing that kind of antibody. If the blood does not agglutinate, it indicates that the blood does not have the antigens binding the special antibody in the reagent.

^ If you know which antigens are in the person’s blood then it is comfortable to figure out which blood group he or she is of.

BLOOD GROUP IMPORTANCE

We now know why It is important to know our blood group so that we can know whose blood to take for donation in times of emergencies or other medical tests.

The Body immune system produces proteins called as antibodies that act as protectors if other cells enter the body. Depending on which blood type the person has, your immune system will produce antibodies to react against other blood types.

We all know what blood donation means and what blood is. We also know why is blood donated and who is in need of blood, but we don’t know some simple facts of blood and blood donation. Knowing some facts of blood donation might help us in saving someone’s life someday or even one of our relative one day. Let us see some facts of blood in our body and also some of facts related to blood donation.

 BLOOD FACTS IN OUR BODY

• Two million red blood cells die every second in our body
• 7% of human body weight is made up of blood. Wow!
• Kidneys in our body help to recycle around 400 gallons of blood in our body
• A normal healthy man has approx. 5.5 litres of blood in his body.
• RBC (Red blood cells) in our body live up to 120 days.
• Blood contains nutrients, hormones, red and white cellswaste products among other things.
• There are mainly 4 types of human blood. They are AB, A, B and O.
• There are some fun facts related to the blood type and the personality of a man as per his blood type.
• The Red colour of blood is because it contains iron.
• About 1 billion red blood cells are found in just 2 to 3 drops of whole blood
• Cows have 800 and more blood types while dogs have 4 blood types.
• It takes about 20 seconds to one minute for a drop of blood to travel from your heart to all of body and back to heart.
• There is no substitute for human blood anywhere else on earth.
• A newborn baby has blood of around 1 cup in his body.
• The roar we hear when we place a seashell  to our ear is not the ocean, but the sound of blood through the veins in the ear.
• The cornea of our eye does not have any blood supply from our body.
• The amount of blood in your body depends on your weight.

BLOOD DONATION FACTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

• Blood donation is needed for cancer, accidents, and surgery patients or for people who are suffering from disease or undergoing an operation.
• A patient undergoing heart surgery needs up to 6 units of Red blood cells, A cancer patient needs up to 8 platelets of blood transfusions per week regularly
• One blood donation can save up to 3 or 5 lives.
• People in need of blood can receive blood from Blood type O people. The people who have Blood Type O are called universal donors. They can give blood to any blood group people.
• 1 in 7 people in world need blood transfusion once in their lifetimes.
• Before donation, blood collected is collected, tested for its use.
• Average man has about 8 to 12 pints of blood in his body
• You can give blood donation every 3 months. It takes 3 months to donate your blood medically, because the RBC’s get replaced in 3 months.
• In India, the blood is preserved in blood bank for 35 days
• India needs about 8 million units of blood per year.
• Blood banks normally take about 350 ml of blood from a person’s body.
• It takes about only 20 minutes to give blood donation.
• Blood type is inherited like the eye colour in humans
• It is said that more than 38,000 of blood donations are needed every day in world.
• Less than 9% of world donates blood every year in the world.
• Most donated red blood cells must be used within 42 days of collection
• In the world of Blood donation, someone almost needs blood every 3 to 5 seconds.
• If you begin donating blood at the age of 18 and you donate after every three months, you can save 500 lives.
•  Every eight minutes, someone gives blood.
• Less than half the population is eligible to give blood.
• There are many types of blood donation namely: Whole blood donation, Plasma donation, platelet donation, automated donation and directed donation.
• Around 10 million volunteers donate blood each year, out of which  30 percent  are first time donors
• In India, blood donation programmes are held regularly by various NGO’s and government institutions. Now the social custom of having a blood donation campaign is prevalent at the time of passing away of a relative or an anniversary or a birthday
• Hospitals mostly request blood type O from blood banks. Only 7% people in India have blood group O negative.
• Need for blood will increase 5% each year
• Only 4% of the eligible population in India donates blood.
• There is shortage of blood in India of more than 40%
• Statistics prepared by the Association of Voluntary Blood Donors’ Forum (AVBDF) on the percentage of voluntary blood donation to the total blood collection in individual state show that Tripura has ranked first in the list with 95.3%. Blood donation.
  West Bengal, with 85.1% of blood donation. Punjab with 84.9%, while Maharashtra was with 84.8%. Tamil Nadu, 91.9% of blood donation respectively.
• In India, 94% of blood donors are males.
• As per recent statistics, In India, people in the age group of 18-24 years donated the most amount of blood of around 53% .Those in the age group of 25-44 years made 29% of the donations. Around 19% of the donations were made by those aged 45-65 only.
• India has 2 433 blood banks.
• Most people who are reluctant to donate blood have their own reasons like, they want to give blood to only their relatives, they are afraid that they may catch some infection from needles or fear pain of needles or they are never asked about donating blood or never thought of it. Some people also don’t donate blood because their family and peers have told them not to do so.

In Gujarat, there are many blood banks and many generous blood donors. As we all know that blood banks thrive or operate when somebody is kind enough to donate blood voluntarily or by a campaign basis.

Ahmadabad is considered to be the financial capital of Gujarat and is also one of biggest cities of Gujarat. So, you can consider that it is also one of the populated cities. Now when a city is populated, there is bound to be demand of blood because of many health reasons. Let us see what and where of blood banks available in Ahmadabad.

 

 WHAT IS A BLOOD BANK?

In a layman’s term, a blood Bank is a place where blood is given to patients who are in need of blood in their body because of accident, trauma, burn, operation etc.

As per Wikipedia, “A blood bank is a bank of blood or blood components, gathered as a result of blood donation, stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term “blood bank” typically refers to a division of a hospital laboratory where the storage of blood product occurs and where proper testing is performed to reduce the risk of transfusion related events.

 

Blood banks were earlier found only in hospitals. Now, they have come outside of hospitals in form of NGO’s or independent units offering service to people.

Blood banks in Gujarat have spread in villages as well apart from cities in last 10 years. This has helped rural villages to gain medical facilities in less cost and effective medical treatment.

 

LIST OF BLOOD BANKS IN AHMADABAD WITH THEIR ADDRESS AND CONTACT NUMBERS.

 

Here are some major and good blood banks in Ahmadabad with their address as well as contact numbers. It is good and important to keep a small list of them for emergency need in future for you or for your relatives.

Adarsh Path Lab & Voluntary Blood Bank

Ist Floor, Samjuba Hospital, Bapunagar,
Ahmedabad – 380 024

Tel:+(91)-(79) – 22746672

Ami Pathology Lab And Blood Bank

Grd Flr, Laxmi Chambers, Ramnagar, Sabarmati
Ahmedabad – 380 005

Tel:+(91)-(79) – 27501202

Help Voluntary Blood Bank

4-7, Kotyark Complex,

Opp. L.G Hospital
Maninagar
Ahmedabad – 380 008

Tel:+(91)-(79) – 25463028

 

Mahagujarat Blood Bank

21, Parth Empire, Rambaug,

Near Maninagar fire station

Maninagar
Ahmedabad – 380 008

Tel:+(91)-(79) – 25451331

 

And

C-13, First Floor,Soham Complex, Soni Chawl Char Rasta,National Highway No 8, Odhav,Ahmedabad – 382415

 

Ashish Voluntary Blood Bank

A-103/104, Aasthan Complex, Panjarapole,
Ahmedabad – 380 015

Tel:+(91)-(79) – 26303090

 

Guj Blood Bank

101, Span Trade Centre,
Elllisbridge,
Ahmedabad – 380 006

Tel:+(91)-(79) – 26584893

 

Green Cross Voluntary Blood Bank

201, Anilkunj, Nr Shefail Shopping Centre, Paldi,
Ahmedabad – 380 007

Tel:+(91)-(79) – 26577588, 26588824

 

Karnavati Blood Bank , Naranpura

36, Shubhlaxmi Complex, Naranpura ,

 

Sheth V.S. General Hospital &

Blood Bank

Ellisbridge

Tel: 079-26577621

Ahmedabad

 

Sheth L.G. General Hospital &  Blood Bank

Maninagar

Tel: 079-25461380 to 84

 

Indian Red Cross Society Blood Bank

18, Gujarat Brahmkshatriya society,

Behind Suvidha Shopping Complex,

Paldi. Ahmedabad

Tel: 079-26643833

 

Prathma Blood centre

Behind Jivaraj Maheta Bhavan ,

Vasna .Ahmadabad

Tel: 079-26600101

 

Crossworld Bank (Voluntary) & Sankalp Diagnostic

3-U/G Chandraprabhu Complex,

Sardar Patel Cross Road.

Ahmedabad

Tel: 079-26568004, 26401959

 

White Cross Blood Bank (Voluntary)

2nd Floor, Kandhari Building,

Opp.S.T. Workshop, Naroda Patiya

Ahmedabad

Tel: 079-22815227

 

Shrinath Pathology Laboratory & Voluntary Blood Bank

F-3, Keshav Complex, India Colony,

Bapunagar.

Ahmedabad

Tel: 079-22760861

 

Supertek Voluntary Blood Bank

‘Malkosh’, Opp.Krupa Petrol Pump,

Parimal Cross Road.

Ahmedabad

Tel: 079-26408181 to 83

 

Ashirvad Blood Bank and Sperm Bank

291 Sky View Complex

Gandhi Nagar,

Ahmedabad

Tel: 079-23221584

 

Shalby Hospital

Bokadev road,

Sarkhej Gandhinagar Highway

Ahmedabad

Tel: 079-40203000, 40203154

 

Gujarat Cancer & Research Institute (GCRI ) New Civil Hospital Campus,Asarwa, Ahmadabad, – 380016Tel: 079 – 22688000, 22681433, 22688017

Samarpan Vidhyapith, Jodhpur Tekra,Near Ramdevnagar Bus Stand,Satellite, Ahmedabad-380015

Tel: 079 – 26860197, 26861055, 26862079, 55125402