Plasma Donation gaining ground in the district : Girish Dayalan

S.A.S. Nagar : Plama Donation is gradually gaining ground in the district, informed Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan.He said plasma donation in the district commenced on August 20 when the young PCS officer Jagdeep Sehgal posted as SDM Mohali volunteered to donate plasma to save the life of a fellow police officer. Since then people are slowly and steadily showing interest in plasma donation, he added.Deputy Commissioner informed that in a little over two weeks, as many as 80 people have volunteered plasma donation and out of them 10 plasma donations have successfully been made.Efforts are afoot to motivate eligible COVID-19 survivors to come up for the same since with the increasing number of patients, it is necessary to have adequate plasma supply.Sharing further details on plasma donation scenario in the district, the first donor of the district and now chief motivator Jagdeep Sehgal says, “all who have recovered from COVID-19 can help in saving precious lives by donating plasma. Plasma donation is a safe and simple procedure. I have experienced the trauma of the infection and bliss of the donation. So, I have taken it upon myself the mission of motivating others to come forward for plasma donation.” With the support of my staff, I have been able to identify 500 eligible donors and will personally talk them into coming volunteering plasma donation, said he. Renowned Punjabi singer, Kulwinder Billa is among others who have made plasma donation at my behest, informed Sehgal.Describing the contact procedure he said that a vehicle with mobile medical team is sent to the donor’s home to collect the blood sample. The sample thereafter is examined for the presence of requisite amount of antibodies. The donors of the suitable samples are subsequently contacted for plasma donation. The plasma collected is being preserved in the Plasma Banks of the four hospitals of the district namely Fortis, Max, Ivy and Grecian and would be made available as per the need of critical COVID-19 patients.Many COVID-19 survivors have doubts of getting re-infected and are hesitant to come forward but district administration under the guidance of Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan is on the job and we are trying to dispel the misgivings so that the donation process may become a streamlined process, said Sehgal.