MIRI: The Malaysian Red Crescent, Miri District (MRC) and Miri Hospital Blood Bank has set up a blood donation centre at the MRC headquarters along Jalan Bulan Sabit here, after all mobile blood donations have been discontinued due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Minister of Transport Datuk Lee Kim Shin, who is also chairman of the Miri divisional-level Disaster Management Committee and deputy chairman of MRC chaired a meeting at MRC on Tuesday where it was decided to use the MRC Training rooms as an additional static venue for collecting blood.
The MRC Centre blood donations will be held three times a week.
On Wednesdays it will be held from 8.30am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 3.30pm.
On Saturdays and Sundays, blood donations are from 8.30am until 2.30pm.
The blood donations at Miri Hospital Blood Bank will also carry on as normal according to schedules.
Registered donors are requested to bring along their blood donor book or card so that they can produce it at road blocks.
The blood donors are also encouraged to call the Miri Hospital Blood Bank, 085-416657 before they go there.
If they choose to go to the MRC Blood Donation Centre they can call or message the deputy chairman of the Blood Donor Recruitment Committee, Karambir Singh at 0168785500.
Currently, to manage the donations, a maximum of 50 people a day at each place is allowed.
Lee said that extra hygiene and monitoring precautions have been put in place to ensure everyone’s safety during the blood donations.
He also said that MRC Miri District has, since its establishment in 1953, always been at the forefront to provide support services in such times of need.
He emphasised that blood donation is one of the core activities of MRC and it will always step in to help Miri Hospital, especially in these difficult times.
Meanwhile, according to Karambir, the blood stocks are low and they encourage people to come forward to donate.
