The Boquete Hospice and Health Foundation is continually creating a blood donor list for the Boquete area and providing guidelines for prospective donors. Members of the community can volunteer to donate blood in emergencies by putting their name on the list of people to be called if someone needs blood of their blood type at Chiriqui Hospital. The list will be maintained by two American RN’s and will be kept confidential. We will continue to find donors for people whether they have volunteered to give blood or not. Giving blood is not a requirement for receiving blood.

Mary Lynah R.N. the creator of the blood donor program has met with the head of the laboratory at Chiriqui Hospital, Dr. Johanna Guerra, and two administrators, one from the emergency room, in order to clarify the rules about blood donation.

As many of you know, there is a blood bank at the Regional Hospital in David. This is a government hospital, also known as the social security hospital. Chiriqui Hospital is a private hospital, and the government does not readily share its blood with private hospitals except under the direst circumstances. For almost all situations, the ONLY way to get blood at Chiriqui Hospital is to get donors to come and donate for you at the hospital. You cannot purchase blood from the Regional Hospital, but you can pay someone to donate for you at Chiriqui Hospital. This is not always the safest way, since some people can feel compelled by money to withhold information about their medical histories. In emergency situations, the staff at the hospital will donate blood, but it seems preferable for us to take the initiative.

Here are the criteria that Mary obtained in the meeting. They are generally less restrictive than those used in the US.

• You must be between the ages of 18 and 65. You are generally ineligible when you become 66. In a life or death situation, the doctor in charge of the patient may override this restriction. Send me your info even if you are over 65.
• You may not give blood if you are allergic to penicillin.
• Men can only give blood every 3 months, women every 4 months. The difference is because men usually have a higher hematocrit than women.
• Infectious diseases: An active infection or any infection of any kind in the last 10 days, including dental, will disqualify you. A history of the following diseases will disqualify you: TB, malaria, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis of any kind, Chagras disease, Yellow fever. CMV and mono are OK if not recent.
• Other medical issues: You must have normal blood pressure. Blood pressure medications are OK if your blood pressure is normal in the ER when you are screened. If your blood pressure drops below normal when you give blood, you cannot give again. You may not give blood if you have anemia falciforme (sickle cell anemia) or if you are diabetic.
• You must weigh more than 55 kilos (approximately 121 pounds by calculation).
• IV drug users are ineligible.

You may be rejected as a donor by the ER doctor who screens you or by the lab. Your blood will be tested by the lab for normal values and infectious diseases. You will need to pay for these services.

FOR YOUR PROTECTION AND THE PROTECTION OF THE RECIPIENT, YOU MUST SELF-SELECT OFF THE LIST IF YOU KNOW YOU DO NOT QUALIFY.

Be meticulously honest about your history with yourself and with the hospital staff. If you do not qualify to donate, we will still find blood donors. We do not need or want to know your reasons or your medical history.

Risky behaviors for hepatitis and HIV: There is a window of time between the time of exposure to a disease and the time that antibodies will show up in a lab test. Risky behaviors include IV drug use, men having sex with men, any unprotected sex with a man who has had unprotected sex with another man, prostitution, any unprotected sex, sex with a prostitute. If you have engaged in these or any other risky behaviors, please self-select off the list. You may ask me questions about this if you wish.

WHAT TO DO NOW: TAKE THIS EASY STEP

Send your name, phone numbers, and blood type to mhlynah@gmail.com. Your blood type is on your Panamanian driver’s license. It may be on your US or other license. You can get your type by paying a small fee at any lab. The cost can be around $5.
If you do not qualify to donate, we will still find donors when you need them.
We will call the donor list for your blood type and for O Negative blood 24/7. The list will not be published or shared in any way.

To request donors, or to ask questions, please call:
MARY LYNAH at 6533-0967
IF NO ANSWER, call Clare Edmonds at 6887-6083

Thank You!