ABOUT THE
FOUNDATION.
The Foundation uses a network of internationally recognised sources, from where screened blood, human rabies immunoglobulin and rabies vaccine, may be dispatched to members anywhere in the world in an emergency.
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Once our alarm centre receives a confirmed call from a member in need of our services, or from the attending doctor, a courier is despatched from the closest blood bank on the next available scheduled flight with the blood. Scheduled flights go to most places these days and are generally far quicker to organise than charters and will usually get there faster. The blood is packaged to internationally approved standards and can remain within the temperature range of 2-10ºC for up to 36 hours or longer depending on the requirement.
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For rabies treatment, due to the difficulty of obtaining supplies in an emergency, the Foundation holds its own stock of Human Rabies Immunoglobulin with rabies vaccine in London, for immediate despatch.
MISSION & HISTORY.
Our mission is to deliver emergency supplies of screened blood, or rabies immunoglobulin, to members wherever required as quickly as possible, whilst maintaining the highest quality standards
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The concept of the Blood Care Foundation (BCF) originally received a great deal of support from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence in the late 1980s and, since 1989, we have worked closely with the Swiss Red Cross (SRC) and more recently with the NHSBT in the UK.
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Although the general medical communities in France, Switzerland, the UK and Nigeria did not believe the Foundation’s proposed services could work, as it was perceived as being too difficult to move blood internationally, in 1989 a blood bank was set up in the deputy British High Commission in Lagos on a trial basis. Once the expatriate and local medical communities in Nigeria saw the idea of a facility holding properly screened blood had become a reality, it received their overwhelming support.
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During the past 25 years, the Foundation has developed an international network, from where screened blood may be dispatched to anywhere in the world in an emergency.
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Currently, around 30 Plcs and thousands of individuals are covered by the service, which is financed through differing forms of membership fees.
WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP.
TBC
BLOOD SOURCES.
The Foundation does not collect or process blood. Its blood is provided by
The Swiss Red Cross in Bern, Switzerland, NHSBT in the UK and OneBood, St Petersburg, Florida - a fully accredited member of the American Association of Blood Banks and Based in St Petersburg, Florida, this blood bank uses its own medical staff to deliver blood to Foundation members in Central and South America.
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