Photo Gallery: CATS 07th Blood Donation Camp

The 14th morning of May'10 had arrived full of hope

of a successful blood donation camp and hustle to ensure

everything was ready for the donors at the Fortis Blood Bank.

The gifts were ready :)

and I was ready to leave for the Blood Bank, with my own 'Proud to be a CATS BLOOD DONOR' key ring :)

The banner was up.... taking a place of PRIDE

The Reception Desk was all set by 9am to receive the first of the donors...

Even the staff at the blood bank has grown up with CATS, this girl had started

as a young trainee in our first camp 1.5yrs ago. She's a young bride now :)

However, the first of the donors took us by surprise by arriving at 8.30am!

Gurdip Dhillon and Ashish Parsad decided to make their donation count before heading home after the night shift.

CAT DeepInder gave his unit in a rush before leaving for his monthly review meeting.

CAT HarmeshInder arrived charmingly soon after to spread cheers in the blood bank...

Nurse no.1 to test your blood

CAT Gagandeep was the next pleasant surprise in the shape of yet another first-time donor...

Food... glorious food :P

All jokes aside, it is absolutely paramount that even if the donor has had a full meal

immediately before coming to the blood bank, the donor must consume fluids and

eat something after every blood donation.

CAT Gagandeep was in such a rush to leave for his office that he forgot to change out of the hospital slippers ;-)

He had to come back within 15mins to retrieve his shoes!

If you are still not sure why should you donate blood, then meet Rtn. Kewal Seth

who has donated blood 42 times till he turned 60.

Cheerful team of CATS and Fortis in the corridor to ensure everything went smoothly for the camp.

would you believe that this beautiful girl is a first time donor too?

Hum bhi kissi se kam nahin... another of our smiling first time donor waiting for her turn outside the bleeding room :)

While the next batch is busy filling the forms in...

The blood bank staff is doubled its' strength at the Reception Desk to cope with the number of donors arriving :)

The ball was indeed in her court :)

Rajinder Sharma saw my update on FB and came along with his brother and two friends...

Three Cheers to such good hearts :)

CAT Vishal in his enthusiasm reached the wrong blood bank in the morning...

but still drove half way through the town to arrive at Fortis to get his unit counted..

Sahil is also a regular donor... who has also committed to donate his eyes after his death..

His parents have pledged to donate their bodies after death for medical research..

Benevolence runs in this family and we are honoured to have such donors amungst us.

Anxious moments to know your blood group, and more importantly your Hb..

the litmus test to confirm whether you can donate blood or not!

Having been deferred twice myself on account of low Hb,

this is one part of the blood donation process that I loathe and detest!!

I thoroughly empathise with the ones who are deferred. You come all set to donate blood,

only to be disappointingly turned away.. even if its for your own good.

Gang of CATS and one batch from SDI, under the CATS banner at Fortis.. gloating in their 2mins of fame ;-)

Five MEOWS snatching a moment together after bidding goodbye to yet another set of donors.

Refreshement Room was becoming more and more full by the passing minute...

CAT Simi walked in with two of her friends.. practically dragging one of them

to come and donate blood for a good cause.. MEOW :)

CAT Rakesh paid a pleasant surprise too..

what are you thinking here now... every unit counts :)

Next batch getting ready to bleed in the corridors.. as seats in the waiting area were full of donors in waiting!

Yupp.. this lot has already donated and now rummaging through the informatory papers :)

We also had 2 donors, who were just walking past and came into the blood bank

after reading our banner outside the IPD gates.

Hats off to Rajwinder and Amandeep for true service to mankind!

The Blood Bank Team in force... Special thanks to Dr Kuldip for personally attending to our needs :)

Now would you believe the spirit of benevolence that electrified the blood bank that day?

CAT DeepInder remained in action throughout the day with us,

catering to every need of the moment, personally attending to all the donors,

ensuring everything was in place at the right time for everyone.

A BIG MEOW to CAT DeepInder.

Forms Forms and more Forms....

Donors, Donors and more Donors :)

Units, Units and more Units :))

Despite providing more chairs in the waiting area, corridors and the refreshment room...

and more bleeding beds being added.. the waiting time was getting a little longer..

but look at these cheerful smiling faces of CATS.. Does it seem remotely to you that

CAT Riyaal, CAT Jyotika and CAT Hemant are anywhere near to loosing their cool?

THANK you all for putting up with the slight delay due to the sudden rush around the lunch hour :)

CAT Puneet snatched a few minutes in between being a professional and a mommy to give blood...

Another pleasant surprise was the arrival of Harman Sidhu, Founder of Arrive Safe,

the NGO focusing on traffic, along with his elderly father.

His presence was an inspiration to many CATS around. Harman was given the charge

to cheer up the donors in the refreshment room...

Told you we were busy and needed more help around ;-)

This was one momentous moment we never thought we would ever see.

CAT Gopika had come to each of the previous 6 camps, only to be rejected

on account of low Hb. Hats off to her persistence that she came 7th time too,

despite all of us telling her that she would be wasting another form and

another needle for the blood test.

Can you imagine the scene at the blood bank when she was cleared for donation

with a Hb of 12.9!! It was a moment of utter disbelief.

We demanded to check the reading on the machine ourselves ;-)

The waiting room was mercifully inundated with the donors..

CAT Arti had taken to reading the paper while waiting for her turn for the bleeding room...

The corridors were overflowing with the waiting donors... but not a frown on any face...

not a single crease on any forehead.. not a scowl to be heard..

Thanks for being so patient..

Food.. bring in more food... order more fresh lime.. get more juices.. need more sandwiches and samosas...

CAT Ashish with his friend Ajay and CAT Gopika in the bleeding room...

Just thinking.. could we call the bleeding room a production line for blood??!!!

Can you imagine how happy this little girl would be to have FINALLY become a proud donor??

7th time lucky!!!

CAT AP had come to spend an hour with the donors in the morning..

However, seeing the sheer camaraderie and the rush of donors,

he stayed behind till 4pm to support and cheer the donors.

Infact we came to know how hungry he must have been only when

CAT Mona called up around 1pm to say,

'Give him something to eat, he left home without breakfast!'

Grateful that he chose to stay longer on a day when we needed as many cheer leaders as possible...

Our 6 footer CAT Riyaal, an anxious first-time donor with the Hb count of 18.5...

literally asked for a friend to be around at the time of bleeding ;-)

Rotarian Babbi Ji who looks after the welfare of each poor child undergoing surgery also came around to cheer up the donors...

Yes... yet another batch of HAPPY DONORS :)

The SDI team in their enthusiasm to convert as many employees into donors

had brought along a boy who 'looked' old enough to help save another life...

only to be told that he cant give blood as he's only 17yrs old!!!

Remember for the future references, every donor must be 18yrs-60yrs and must weigh atleast 45kgs.

SDI team was led by none else than their CEO, Mr Ajay Tewari himself on the day...

The energy which surged through the blood bank was palpable upon his arrival...

Mr Tewari came in like a regular donor, without expecting any special treatment due to his position...

He has earned even more respect in the eyes of CATS for honouring the tradition of CATS,

for not having any special tradition/honour for anyone.

For CATS, we all are EQUAL and Mr Tewari affirmed our faith in equality.

A stolen moment in the medical room...

An everytime donor CAT Arti with most of the time donor with none time donor CAT Anu C...

Meet CAT Navpreet S who joins celebrated his 18th birthday by donating blood and

pledging his eyes for donation after his death, with his whole family.

He kept his promise of donating blood regularly..

I just hope more of us can become regular donors...

help save more lives... Thanks Navpreet :)

CAT Hemant who is donating blood 6th time with CATS..

the only camp he missed was when he had gone to Kolkota for a short while...

I would like to add that it is CAT Hemant who always sends the first reminder

around 10 weeks after the camp to say, 'Next camp is due. Get into action!'

Keeping the pain aside.. CAT Aditi can go through anything..

from donating blood to rafting for two days to trekking 13kms across three hillocks :)

CAT Abhijit, words fall short of how can we even begin to describe him.

He has taken nearly dead car accident victims to hospitals for treatment,

at the risk of being tormented by the police... He has rounded up foremen,

electrical engineers, sweepers, brick layers from his site to donate blood..

He has given stash of cash to help the needy, a stash which had everything

from crisp bank notes fresh from the ATM to badly soiled and oily fivers and tenners.

Yes Yes... another happy batch of donors from SDI... some new faces but mostly repeat donors..

Me too.. Meee Tooooooo ;-)

Do you notice the gentleman sitting in the back row on the extreme left chair?

His uncle was admitted in the hospital and came into the blood bank to check

why so many people were walking in and out merrily in a hospital,

which is supposed to be a gloomy place.

He was astonished to be told that we all were voluntary blood donors.

He immediately went out and dragged five of his friends/cousins, all young and

healthy boys/men who were both ignorant and afraid of donating blood.

For the ones who are still mulling over how painful the blood donation is,

allow me to take you through the whole procedure.

After filling the form whereby you give your medical history through tick-boxes,

it is decided by the trained staff whether your blood would be suitable depending upon

if you are taking any antibiotics, or have had a major surgery in the previous one year, or are diabetic etc.

Then you reach the medical room where a brief medical is conducted to check your blood pressure,

your weight, your blood group and the Hb.

A tiny prick is made into your finger to draw a little blood which is used to confirm your Hb and your blood group.

While you press your finger against your palm after the prick, within 2mins the machine will confirm your Hb count.

and the four drops of blood on these two slides will confirm your blood group...

Then if your Hb is more than 12.5 for girls and 13.5 for boys, your BP is 80/120 and

your weight is over 45kgs, then you can proceed towards the bleeding room.

and this is the bleeding room where you are first made comfortable before a unit of blood drawn from you.

See, its that simple :)

But all jokes aside, this is why CATS bleed every three months...

A bag of red fluid, which can not be manufactured in a factory,

can not be constituted artificially, can not be drawn from a goat or a cow...

This is where only a human being can save another human life.

LIFE IS PRECIOUS...

Yes... more forms to be entered into the system.. more work created for them...

the staff had to work overtime during our camp, but they did so cheerfully :)

Your precious Blood Donor Certificate being written out :)

Mr Tewari said that now he can go home and tell him son with pride,

'It's not just you, even Papa got a certificate also today!'

The nursing staff kept labelling the bags and putting them into various machines for storage and processing.

Waiting with a smile.. for a cause :)

Balvinder Singh, another man with a mission from SDI.. for him might is right ;0)

Seriously though, the contribution of this one person is absolutely phenomenal.

For each camp, not only he comes but rounds up every body walking around his office for this noble cause.

and the last batch from SDI... we had to tell them that we have packed up..

otherwise, they would have kept coming!!!

It was nearly 7.20 pm now but the blood bank staff, along with

CAT DeepInder were in there beyond their normal working hours for the donors.

Another unsung and unseen Heroine of the day is Rajwant from SDI,

who stayed in constant touch with me throughout the day while organising

the logistics of the donors, to avoid overlapping of batches.

and there were smiles all around...

The Donors came... in trickles and droves... spreading joy all around...

all 63 who donated.. and even the 11 who were deferred on medical grounds...

Could I ask for more?

- CAT Supreet