Please leave info such as:

Name of Blood Bank - location - street address - phone numbers (if you have them)

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There is enough and more blood in the city of Mumbai. In fact there is a problem of plenty. Requests for blood are indicative of a lack of understanding on the part of the lay person and sometimes inefficiency on the part of the hospital.

Please note that blood has a shelf life. It is important that there is proper monitoring of the stock of blood. The idea ofcourse is to ensure that nobody suffers due to nonavailability of blood. At the same time it would be criminal to have more blood than what is required and then have it go down the drain. The situation at the time of writing this note is that we can easily meet the requirement of blood, whereas we are headed towards a situation of excess stock.

Therefore please do not donate blood due to the present sentiment. If there is anyone in need of blood you could :
a. ask the hospital to contact other blood banks in the city
b. ask the hospital to contact the State Blood Transfusion Council on 22830216
c. ask the hospital/patient to contact me on 98201 46448

Really speaking, if there is a need for blood it only means that the concerned hospital has absolved itself of the responsibility of organising blood and pushed the onus on to the hapless patient. It would also be appropriate to check if blood has already been given to the patient, and the hospital is seeking replacement, in which case there is no real emergency.

The actual situation on the ground at the time of the blast was that there was more than sufficient blood to meet the requirement of the victims. The stock of blood in all the blood banks was monitored immediately after the blast, as early as 7:30 pm. Besides, blood banks in the nearby cities were sounded off by the State Blood Transfusion Council to stand by on high alert. This was done as a matter of abundant precaution.

The real problem was the initial difficulty to establish communication with the hospitals due to telephone lines getting jammed. Even this was set right by sending personnel to each of the hospitals, and simultaneously attempting and succeeding in establishing contact. By 10:30 pm on the day of the blast the necessary blood was diverted to needy hospitals. Any so-called emergency requirement of blood (which was rare) indicated by the hospital was solely due to inability of the concerned hospital to communicate to other blood banks. This emergency requirement could and should have been met by shifting blood from the nearest blood bank, which the hospital did not choose to exercise due to reasons best known to them. Let me say that the immediate need was to get 'tested' blood rather than invite members of the public to donate blood, which would then have to be tested before being transfused to the patient.

Having said that there was blood in the blood banks at the time of the blast to meet the requirements of the victims, I cannot help but admire the spirit and the sentiments of the citizens. On the day of the blast, between 8:00 pm to 3:00 am there were 750 Mumbaikars who donated blood at KEM Hospital alone. Sion Hospital saw another 300 Mumbaikars donate blood the same night. There were atleast 200 persons waiting outside blood banks in Pune, Nagpur, Nashik each, who communicated with us at 11:00 pm on the day of the blast. We had to thank them for their sentiments and indicate to them that we were comfortably placed. Another estimated 2000 Mumbaikars donated blood at various hospitals inspite of our unsuccessful attempts at disuading them from creating a panic.

Blood is a continuous requirement. Today, we do not want people to donate blood unless there is a clear identified emergency. And even then we would like them to first try the three options mentioned earlier. Otherwise we could land up in a crisis situation a month or two months from now, and have very few eligible donors then. Remember, there has to be an interval of three months betwen two blood donations.

Vinay Shetty

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Shahla: Cooper Hospital where a number of blast victims are being treated requires blood from any negative group. You can try calling Dipesh Tank on 9833152162 as he was co-ordinating with hospital officials

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Sanjay: Anyone with  O negative blood - please contact Holy Family, Bandra on 9821357027 -- from friend who just went. (posted 6:20 pm 12/7)

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Jaded: As of 15:00 IST 12th July 2006
The response to requests for blood have been overwhelming.
Blood Banks(corporation as well as private- Sion Hospital, Cooper Hospital, Hinduja, Holy Family contacted) seem to have adequate units of blood in stock and are discouraging more donations.
While its is amazing to see so many people pouring out onto the streets to donate blood in response to such a calamity, it is true that even if half of us donate blood more regularly we would help save more lives than this mad rush will.
So if there are still people out there who would like to donate blood, hold on. Wait for a month or two, and then make it a habit.
Or register yourself on www.indianblooddonors.com and respond to blood requests.
Thank you all.

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Harsh- I called up SIOn Hospital, they have no shortage of blood

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Dhoomketu: Tried calling two of the numbers yesterday to confirm the need. One was unresponsive and the other was non-committal about the need. If you are close by, I would suggest you should land up and donate blood. Otherwise, do check before reaching the hospital. Am hearing from the radio stations that some hospitals have too many volunteers.

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Sion Hospital DOES NOT need blood at this time, they have surplus blood and storage problems.
There's also a first-hand report here by a chap who went there to donate blood. Please don't go by TV reports on the subject. Hospital numbers are posted here, please call up and ask before you go anywhere to donate
-- from Amit Varma via email.

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Contacts listed under BLOOD BANK

1. JOY HOSPITAL PVT LTD (Contact Person: MR AVINASH KHOPKAR-MANAGER)
Building: 423 AB
Street: 10 TH ROAD
Location: OPP POST OFFICE
Area: CHEMBUR E - Pin: 400071
Tel.: 25286911,25284281,25284298,
Fax.: 25220471,
Mobile.: 9892595074,

2. DR L H HIRANANDANI HOSPITAL (Contact Person: MR MANISH JOSHI)
Building: HILLSIDE AVENUE
Location: HIRANANDANI BUSINESS PARK
Area: POWAI - Pin: 400076
Tel.: 25763300,25763333,
Fax.: 25763311,25763344,
Mobile.: 9819261222,

3. BHATIA GENERAL HOSPITAL
Street: TARDEO ROAD
Area: GAMDEVI - Pin: 400007
Tel.: 66660000,66660666,
Fax.: 66660566,

4. PRINCE ALY KHAN HOSPITAL (Contact Person: MS PRITI NAIKAR)
Building: AGA HALL
Street: NESBIT RD
Location: OPP ST MARY'S SCHOOL
Area: MAZG

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Check out BhartaBloodBank?.com and the site has 1000's of donors..  You can also SMS BLOOD 5050

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As of July 12, 13:12 IST, Sion Hospital blood bank says that they have enough blood but donors can call and leave their numbers