Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The death of an engineer who was stabbed by some criminals a couple of days ago has raised concern among doctors about the availability of negative blood types in the city. The engineer was stabbed by the accused and was referred from one hospital to another due to non-availability of the A-negative blood type which delayed his treatment.
Concerned over the incident, HoD of Transfusion Medicine at MGM Medical College Dr Ashok Yadav said there must be a directory of people with negative blood types so that it could help in saving lives in times of emergency.
“Negative blood types are rare as they’re found in only 4-5 per cent of the population. The most rare is the AB-negative, followed by A-negative, B-negative and O-negative,” Dr Yadav said, adding, “The government, with the help of NGOs, must take the initiative of preparing a directory or a database of people with negative blood types which would not only help those in emergency but also those registered in it to have the numbers of others with the same blood group as theirs.”
He also expressed concern over the non-availability of such blood types in the rural areas and in the suburbs.
“At Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital, we have about 3-4 units of all the negative blood types and we continue to maintain the stock. We also get the units from regular donors who help in maintaining the stock, but small blood banks in the rural areas or small districts don’t have such footfalls of donors and they face trouble in getting negative blood types,” Dr Yadav added. The expert also appealed to the people not to shy away from donating blood as their participation in the noble cause can help save lives.
