UDHAGAMANDALAM: Collector J Innocent Divya inaugurated a blood component separator, a first-of-its-kind facility in the hill town, at the Ooty Government Headquarters Hospital on Wednesday.With the machine being operational, patients from here don’t have to be referred to other hospitals, said joint director of health H Ravi Kumar. “There was no facility in Ooty to separate blood components. We used to refer patients, especially those affected by dengue fever — who need white platelets — to hospitals in Coimbatore,” he told TOI.While dengue patients require only white platelets, anaemic patients need red blood cells. “It is dangerous to transfuse whole blood to an anaemic patient as it would affect the functioning of the heart. Likewise, newborns with deficient blood counts only need the required component. We lacked this facility till now,” the official said.Speaking to reporters, the collector said, “The late chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 2013 had allotted Rs 2.5 crore to the district to upgrade the Ooty GH on par with medical college hospitals under rule 110. The machine is a first-of-its-kind in the Nilgiris and a boon to the people.”The blood separator machine was set up at a cost of Rs 25 lakh, part of the allocation of Rs 2.5 crore sanctioned for the Ooty GH under the 110 Rule in 2013. Though it was installed a month ago, the hospital received licence from the drug controller general of India only recently.In Nilgiris, blood bank facility is available only in three government hospitals such as Ooty GH, Coonoor GH and Gudalur GH.

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