A "walking blood bank" is a system where individuals serve as on-the-spot blood donors, often used in military, disaster, or remote healthcare settings where traditional blood banking resources are not available.
There is a rigorous requirement for screening and donor management to ensure safety and compatibility in emergency transfusions.
Manufactured by Eldon Biologicals, Denmark, the EldonCard can be used for ABO blood type and Rhesus factor determination t0 achieve blood type compatibility.
Challenges
Donor blood is in short supply in many countries, but in Ukraine the critical shortage of donor blood has been seriously exacerbated by the full-scale Russian invasion, as the military activities have resulted in many wounded soldiers and civilians; these casualties have dramatically increased the overall demand for donor blood. The shortage of donor blood has caused an unnecessarily high number of amputations amongst wounded soldiers as well as needless deaths amongst both civilians and soldiers experiencing otherwise survivable injuries.
1: Mobilizing additional blood donors through active outreach, where people are offered a free blood type test performed on an EldonCard, and using their phones to register as blood donors.
2: Providing blood typing tests and transfusion kits to the frontline. Over 60% of injury-related deaths result from blood loss, and timely blood transfusion on the battlefield can significantly improve these statistics.
Mobilizing additional blood donors through active outreach, where people are offered a free blood type test performed on an EldonCard and using their smart phones to register as blood donors.
The recruitment of blood donors depends on an easy, reliable way of determining a person’s blood type. WBB and Eldon Biologicals performed a pratical field exercise in Lviv, Ukraine. In the town square in one afternoon more than 200 new blood donors were recruited.
Providing blood typing tests and transfusion kits to the frontline.
The Walking Blood Bank initiative aims to conduct blood type tests both in close proximity to and directly at the frontline, ensuring that donors are readily available near the battlefield to provide blood when needed. Each individual soldier can be tested immediately before a blood transfusion to ensure compatibility with donor blood.
The optimal rescue window is within the first hour after injury, ideally within the first 36 minutes. The WBB project will address these challenges by delivering the equipment required, including EldonCards for blood typing and warm transfusion kits. The WBB also aims to provide blood type testing equipment to field hospitals along with other hospitals and clinics serving communities located along the frontline.
PARTNERS
- Ukraine
Eldon Biologicals
A Danish manufacturer of dry format cards for blood grouping. The Eldon Card holds European CE and US FDA approvals and is a supplier to several NATO countries
Yashchenko Foundation
The Yashchenko Foundation is dedicated to providing essential humanitarian support in regions affected by conflict and crisis