Staff of the Economic and Organised Crime Office [EOCO], have donated blood for the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Blood Bank.
According to the Head of Administration at EOCO, Seidu Adams, they were inspired to do this after one of their colleagues urgently needed blood, and they had to fall on some staff members for help.
He said the initiative also forms part of the agency’s corporate social responsibilities.
“This exercise actually is informed by the fact that we recognize that as an institution we are part of corporate Ghana. As corporate Ghana, we also have certain social responsibilities apart from our mandate as a law enforcement institution. This exercise of blood donation was informed by a situation where one of us needed blood and we had to organize our staff to go and donate. When we told our staff about the situation, the response was so overwhelming. And from that call, we realized that there is the need to extend it to the larger society. That is what informed our action, It was a free will thing, it was not forced,” he said
“When there was a need for us to give a colleague, it was tremendous and overwhelming, we didn’t have to put up a notice. I just called the heads of department to inform them of the situation at hand. Within the next 15 minutes, I could count about 15 when we needed only three pints of blood. So it was that situation that we realized that people are willing to give to society, so we took it from there.”
EOCO is a specialized state agency tasked with a responsibility to monitor and investigate economic and organised crime, and on the authority of the Attorney General, prosecute offences to recover proceeds from crimes committed.
Seidu Adams said there was an agreement with the Korle-Bu Blood Bank to help coordinate and facilitate the exercise.
He called on other corporate institutions to follow their path to help save lives.
“We are social beings, we are human beings and as human beings we need to fit, we also have to recognize the fact that sickness is part of life and growth, so giving it out, it’s really good for all of us. So we encourage other institutions to join in” he added.
Akosua Brefewaa, a donor recruitment officer, in outlining the qualification criteria for the donation of blood, said “You are supposed to be between the ages of 17 to 60, and when you come, you are supposed to have a good blood level which we will check for you, we check your BP, we check your pulse, so we just do some mini medical screening, and if you are successful, then you are allowed to donate.”
“The qualification basically is on your health status, it has nothing to do with heights or your size, but if you have a good blood level, you have a good body weight, which should be 50kg and above. You are within the ages of 17 to 60, you are not diabetic, you are not pregnant, you are not breastfeeding, yes, you can donate blood.”
She pledged the support of the Korle-Bu Blood Bank to any corporate institution interested in holding a blood donation exercise.would like to embark on this exercise.
–
By: Ann-Shirley Ziwu/citifmonline.com/Ghana