Can you please give us a brief history of the department when it was founded, its growth, key milestones etc?

The Blood Bank forms a very pivotal department in any Hospital and extends great help and strength to the Surgical and Trauma departments. It is this department which often acts as an life saver for many a patients, usually requiring post RTA surgeries, patients suffering with Thalassemia, patients requiring blood transfusions, etc.

Key Milestones of this department are –

• Full fledged ,Licensed Blood bank with Component and Pherisis Lab sice 1987.

• HLA lab since 1993

• First to start HCV testing in India from 1995.

• Red Cell Serology by Gel Coloumn Technology from 2002.

• ELISA screening for Transfusion Transmitted Diseases (TTD) has been upgraded since 2002 to CHEMILUMINISESENCE technique.

• Peripheral Stem Cell Collection ,preservation and BMT transfusion support since 2003.

• Supply of Leuko depleted and irradiated blood and blood products since 2003

Is your department a center of excellence?
Yes , Our Blood Bank tops the list for rate and quality Blood and Blood prompts. Prompt and friendly service, 24 hrs of the day, made possible by a team of knowledgeable and committed staff.

Do you have expertise in all areas of specialty?
Yes, including HLA testing

Within these areas what would be the key specialties?

• Referral center for analysis of any blood group discrepancies.

• Referral center for external Quality Check, HIV/ HbSAg screening.

• First in AP to start pre-Operative Haemodilution Autologous Blood transfusion, which is now routinely practiced for all cardiac surgeries.

• Reliable testing of blood for Transfusion Transmitted Diseases with meticulous Quality Assurance + Quality Control.

• In-Depth knowledge to clarify blood group discrepancies.

• Only centre to supply components during the night.

• 24 hrs pheresis. ( Platelet concentrate ) Available

• Knowledge bank for Blood Bank services and processes, where a lot of other Blood Banks in the city seek help and guidance.

• Sensitive cross – marching procedure using Gel-Column Technology

Do you have a dedicated sub department or specialized clinics for any particular age group or disease (ex. Pediatric cardiology, Back Clinic etc)?
Yes – Transplant Immunology Lab.

What is the success rate of your department?
All requests for emergency massive or rare blood group transfusion is met succesfully Thalassemic children come to us because it is safe. Despite the availability of free blood elsewhere our HLA lab is used as a referral centre by other hospitals the AP Govt. and Universities, students are sent to us for training. Samples to establish blood relationship are referred by the Govt

Does you department closely work with any other medical department?
All patient areas - including
- Emergency room
- Critical care
- OT
- Wards
- Sub centres of Apollo – Vikrampuri, Hyderguda, DRDO Etc.,

Do you handle patients of all age groups?
Yes

Why would a patient choose your medical department over that in any other hospital?

• Reliable & Prompt Result

• Reputation of medical Paramedical fraternity

• Availability of all related specialities under one roof.

• 24 hour coverage

• Empathizing attitude of the staff

• International expertise of doctors

• All medical specialties are available under one roof

• Excellent diagnostic and support service

• High standards of treatment and care

• Proven track record in supplying safe and effective blood and blood products observing highest standards

What kind of cases do you handle (challenging, cannot be solved anywhere else, high risk, cutting edge / innovative etc.)? Can you give us examples?

• Supply of rare and Negative Blood Groups

• Management of Cirtical cases – we cater to all emergency / trauma cases - Fresh Blood Transfusions

• Consistent rapport and attention to all patients and Patient attendants round the clock

• Exemplary crsis management

Could you give us an overview and examples of the some of the innovations undertaken by your department?

• Blood grouping & Rh typing is done using full panel of antiseras by forward and reverse technique

• Screening by Elpsa technique using automated systems ( reporting in one hour )

• Cross matching for multiple blood units was done by checker board technique with saline, Enzyme & Coombs cross – march

• Anti HCV receving was made compulsory at our centre even before it was declared mandatory by the DCGI

• Plasma pheresis by manual and automated techniques was made available

• Platelet concentrates by pheresis using cell reparator was made available

• Detection confirmation of Bombay Pheno types and other Blood group variants

• Emergency screening made available

• Washed RBC made available for thallasaemics with transfusion facility

• HLA typing & Cross matching available for transplant cases with a novel and legal reporting format

• Training centre for technicians and doctors

• We can proudly boast of 24 hrs of service with the use of 3 cell separators, today.

• The first to have HLA services as a part of Blood Bank.

Do you offer any support services for patients, their family members etc.?
Counselling / empathesing with the attendants / HIV detection / carriers – patient counseling.

Can you tell us about the kind of research and training initiatives undertaken by your department?

• Accorded permission by AP government for training technicians for the Govt DMLT & blood bank technology course.

• Few technicians had undergone training and orientation in Institute of Immuno - Heamotology ( ICMR ), KM hospital, Mumbai.

• All the technicians have been accorded seats in the ongoing technician training course, which will allow them to sit for Government Examination.

Could you give us an overview and examples of the some of the innovations/ firsts undertaken by your department?

The following are the firsts undertaken by this department -

• HIV/ HbsAg Screening using automated analysers since 1987.

• First to start HCV testing in India from 1995.

• ELISA screening for Transfusion Transmitted Diseases (TTD) has been upgraded since 2002 to CHEMILUMINISESENCE technique.

• Only Blood Bank in AP where blood screening is available round the clock (Critical for Trauma cases/ Cases requiring massive Transfusion of fresh blood)

• First in AP to use Cell separator right from the year 1987.

• Supply of Components was started in the year 1987 and until recently, apart from NIMS we were the only blood bank to manufacture and supply components in Hyderabad and to other neighboring districts / towns.

• The only Blood Bank in AP with know how to carry out stem cell preparation and storage and capacity to support BMT Patients

• The first to have HLA services as a part of Blood Bank.

Has the department as a whole been awarded any ranking, award, accreditation etc? If yes could we please have the details?

• Blood Bank as part of the hospital has ISO accrediation

• Blood Bank is licensed by Drug controller – AP and India

Please list in full the diagnostic facilities (if applicable) offered by your department (ex. MRI, Intra-vascular ultrasound etc)?
Apheresis procedures including stem cell collection, HLA testing, component Lab.

Please list in full the non-surgical treatments (if applicable) offered by your department (ex. Stenting, ablative techniques etc.)?

• Plasma Exchange

• Peripheral Stem Cell Pherisis

• Therapautic Platelet Pherisis

• Therapautic Bleeding

• Manual Plasma Pherisis

• Autologus Blood collection by Leapfrog Technique