Since this morning, September 29 (Tue.), a blood-donation bus has been at the west entrance of Palaceside Building for a mobile blood drive. From the 10 a.m. start, colleagues have already been coming in groups from inside the building＝photo above. The drive runs for two days through tomorrow, the 30th (Wed.).
Blood supplies are reportedly running short. According to the Japanese Red Cross Society Tokyo Blood Center, unstable weather this summer may have kept donors below usual levels. Heavy rain recently made it hard to secure blood in hard-hit Ibaraki and Tochigi, so stocks must be shifted nationwide — and compared with last year and the year before, reserves are down across the country. See the graph below; the situation is quite serious.
Our target at Palaceside Building today and tomorrow is 100 people — a fairly ambitious number. During reception hours
we will need to run nearly at full capacity.
Reception is 10–11 a.m. and 12:15–4 p.m. The draw itself takes about ten minutes, but with a doctor’s interview and other steps, allow 30–40 minutes from check-in to finish.
Tenants and passers-by — please, please consider donating.
Bone marrow registry desk too
As noted on this blog recently, for the first time we are also setting up a consultation and registration desk for the “Bone Marrow Bank,” where donors for bone-marrow transplants can sign up. It is beside the blood-donation desk inside the west entrance, open during blood-drive hours (10–11 a.m., 12:15–4 p.m.).
Bone marrow transplants help treat leukemia and other blood diseases, but the white-blood-cell type (HLA type) — of which there are tens of thousands — must match; even among siblings the odds are one in four, and among unrelated donors only a few hundredths to a few ten-thousandths. To give every patient who needs a transplant a chance, as many people as possible must register with the Bone Marrow Bank run by the Japan Marrow Donor Program. The foundation knows many of you may have concerns, and asks anyone interested to feel free to ask questions.
We hope for your cooperation here as well.