Ramathibodi Hospital is calling for blood donations, after a power outage during a fire on Tuesday night damaged blood stored in its blood bank freezers.
Dr Artit Ungkanont, dean of the Faculty of Medicine, said that about 100 units of blood stored in the hospital’s blood bank, one of the largest in Thailand, have been rendered unusable.
“During the blaze in Building 1 of the hospital, power was cut to facilitate firefighting efforts, which also shut down the freezers in which the blood was stored. Although the outage lasted only a few hours, the blood is now unusable,” he said.
Each operation requires about 10-20 units of blood. In the wake of the fire, the hospital will have to use its remaining supply carefully.
“Although our smaller blood bank was not affected by the fire, the hospital needs to launch a public campaign for blood donations,” he added.
Major operations requiring large amounts of blood, such as heart surgeries and liver transplants, may have to be postponed.
The dean said the fire started on the second floor, but smoke leaked onto the upper floors, where sensitive medical equipment is housed.
The inspection has not yet been completed, so it is too early to estimate the damage.
Police suspect that the fire may have been caused by a short circuit in the ceiling of the second floor, due to deteriorated wiring.
