Nairobi, Kenya: An emergency blood drive for Garissa casualties is being held at Kencom bus terminus in Nairobi in aid of close to 80 casualties of the Garissa University attack admitted in various hospitals in Nairobi and Garissa.
Hundreds turned out to donate blood in the three-day exercise that starts Monday April 6, from 9am to 6pm.
The blood drive is an initiative of St John Ambulance together with the National Blood Transfusion Service and Bloodlink foundation.
All donors are taken through four easy steps including registration, medical history and quick physical checkup, donation, and refreshments.
The actual blood donation takes less than 12 minutes per person, and the entire process takes about an hour.
The donations were not only limited to blood as the agency also requested for refreshments and protective gear.
“Blood donation drive for the #GarissaAttack victims is ongoing at KENCOM. You can also participate by donating refreshments and gloves,” read a tweet by St Johns Ambulance Kenya.
To donate, it is recommended that one must weigh more than 50 kilograms and should be between the ages of 16-65. Donors are encouraged to eat a meal prior to giving blood.
And at Chiromo mortuary, where bodies of the students killed during the attack are being preserved, the Kenya Red Cross appealed for assistance in order to manage the overwhelming situation.
“Support in kind still needed to support families affected by #GarissaAttack at #Chiromo especially flasks, bread, water and milk,” tweeted @KenyaRedCross.
Relatives of the victims were still trooping in to identify their loved ones in the morgue that is already overstretched.
Counselling of next of kin is also being carried out at the mortuary and at Kenyatta National Hospital where some of the injured are admitted.
-standardmedia.co.ke
