There are over 2,000 active blood donors registered at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, or roughly three percent of the population — compared to six percent in most other developed countries.

This according to Betsie Lombard, Director of the hospital's Blood Transfusion Services. Dr. Lombard addressed Hamilton Rotarians at their weekly luncheon yesterday, informing them of recent developments in blood transfusion in Bermuda and the difficulties of maintaining the Island's blood bank.

"We face quite a few unique challenges. We all know that the first is that we are an isolated geographical location," said Dr. Lombard, who is originally from South Africa.

"All the blood that we transfuse we have to collect locally. Every now and then we get a patient that has a lot of irregular antibodies and we can't find blood for them on the Island and we then have to import blood. That takes a number of days and it's very difficult to ensure the blood stays at the right temperature when it is flown to us."

A preservative now allows the hospital to store blood for up to 42 days before it is unsuitable for transfusion. Still, with around 50 units of blood transfused every week, Dr. Lombard admitted that it was often difficult to meet demand.

"We have challenges like retirement of current donors due to age, illness or relocation — we have a transient population. We are also limited by international accreditation restrictions that prohibit donation by long-term residents of the United Kingdom and Europe."

To maintain the donor registry, the hospital conducts a very active recruitment drive – which in the past six months alone has attracted 50 new donors.

"These are extremely loyal people who come back again and again to donate," said Dr. Lombard of the donor community.

She also provided statistics to demonstrate how the donated blood was used once it entered the bank. Contrary to popular perception, she said, only seven percent of donated blood was used for trauma patients. The majority is transfused for surgical and medical purposes.

"We have a large number of patients on the island with sickle cell anaemia. Those who know people with the disease know that it eventually leads to pain crises that can cripple the patient and lead to severe lung damage.

"One of the ways to treat sickle cell anaemia is with a chronic transfusion programme, that means that patient must receive at least two units of blood every month for their lifetime. We have some patients who have received two units of blood every month for 15 years… this ensures that these people can live a normal life without pain."

Dr. Lombard ended her presentation by encouraging members of the public to apply to become a blood donor.

"We are at the blood donor centre on the first floor of the King Edward Hospital. We have experienced nurses, comfortable new chairs and dedicated parking spots for our donors. So please join our family and become a blood donor."