THE year 2024 was another unforgettable year for the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Quezon City (QC) Chapter.In April, its new building was inaugurated and last December, the PRC QC Chapter inaugurated its blood center clin-ical laboratory.The blood center clinical laboratory was established through the partnership of PRC QC Chapter and SM Founda-tion.The clinical laboratory is specifically designed to meet the requirements of the PRC QC Chapter Blood Center.One of the key procedures offered at the blood center is platelet apheresis, a process that involves collecting platelet components from a single donor to serve patients in need.Medical conditions requiring apheresis platelets are cancer treatments, major surgeries, organ transplantation, bleeding disorders, aplastic anemia and severe thrombocytopenia or low platelet count.Before the establishment of the clinical laboratory, the screening process for blood donors took a significant amount of time and effort, even involving visits to external clinical laboratories for complete blood count tests.The establishment of the clinical laboratory aims to streamline the testing process for blood donors.Provided with modern equipment, laboratory procedures are hastened. This enables quicker response to blood donation requests as well as encourages more blood donors.
