Mercy receives donation of blood storage system

Mercy Lab was recently given the gift of a small refrigerated unit that has been specially modified to safely store blood bags at the required temperature. This generous donation from the Naval Research Laboratory will allow Mercy to store blood for up to two weeks.

Technology like this is not very common in Sierra Leone, and most hospitals are unable to store blood at all. In the past, Mercy was unable to store blood, so whenever a patient required a transfusion it would take a long time to locate an acceptable donor and transfusions needed to happen immediately.

The hope is that Mercy can find a way to start a blood bank so that emergency cases will no longer go through a stressful wait to receive treatment. This will be especially critical once the OR opens.