Through these short conversations, we try to understand what our customers think about us. Today, we are traveling to Mumbai, India to speak to Dr Narinder Naidu, Medical Director, Indian Red Cross Society-Fort, Mumbai. The Indian Red Cross Society- Mumbai is a unique humanitarian organization that has played a pivotal role in providing blood transfusion services to this metropolis. It was one of the first few Non-Governmental Organizations to start a hundred percent voluntary blood bank in the city. The Blood Center was established in 1996 and today it is one of the leading blood centers in the city, adhering to ethics and values and is professionally managed. The centre has been committed to achieving international standards through continuous improvement in quality.

1. Could you explain what your activities consist of?

We are a blood bank engaged in the activity of collecting, storing, processing, and transporting blood and related components. We organize donation camps at the center to collect blood after which we store some samples as whole blood and the rest are further processed to extract platelets, plasma and other blood-related components. Besides the voluntary blood donation center, we also have a Thalassemia Day Care Center, where we have around 55 patients who require blood every 8 days to keep their haemoglobin levels up to the mark. Along with the blood transfusion services we also provide holistic care for them. We also have a Red cell lab, where a lot of referral work is undertaken. We also have Transfusion Transmitted Infectious Disease lab, where we run an external quality assessment scheme program, to monitor the quality of results generated by the blood center across the country.

2. Why is there a need for cold storage in your organization?

We run a blood donation center, where we collect, store, process, and transport blood and blood components. To ensure the integrity of these samples we need to store them at their required temperature storage so that optimum patient care can be achieved. At our component separation lab, we have various medical-grade cold-chain equipment, to achieve our objectives effectively.

3. Which products did you buy from B Medical Systems?

We observed that when we were separating plasma from the blood and trying to freeze it in our deep freezers it was taking a long time, deteriorating the quality of plasma. We were losing Factor VIII and other unstable components, critical for patient care. Our frozen plasma bags were also failing our strict quality control process. That was the time we decided to go for the advanced technology of shock-freezing plasma within 30 minutes. We came across Dometic as a brand for this equipment which I believe is now called B Medical Systems and the product MBF model is now replaced by Contact shock freezer, CSF61.

4. What are the features that you liked the most? Could you please talk about the performance of the devices?

The superior technology of shock-freezing plasma within 26 mins is unique and helps in the quality control of frozen plasma bags. Another feature that stands out is the temperature monitoring display which allows us to monitor the temperature. The product is robust, durable and user-friendly. We are using it since 2007 and we haven’t faced a single breakdown in all these years.

5. How are you using the B Medical Systems’ product and how does it benefit your institution?

It used to take us 12 hours to freeze plasma in our deep freezer after processing, which degraded the quality of it and frozen plasma bags were failing our quality control standards. Dometic MBF 12 ( now replaced by B Medical Systems’ Contact Shock Freezer, CSF61) provides the fastest cooling technology to freeze plasma Bags, which helps in maintaining the quality of the plasma, and results in better patient care.

6. Have you found in B Medical Systems a trustworthy partner?

Yes, we have found a trustworthy partner in B Medical Systems.

7. How did you learn about B Medical Systems?

We were approached by B Medical Systems (earlier known as Dometic) distribution partners in India.

8. How long have you been a B Medical Systems customer?

Since 2007, we are using BMedical Systems’ product (earlier known as Dometic).

9. Are you satisfied with the equipment?

Yes, we are satisfied.

10. Would you recommend B Medical Systems?

Yes, we would highly recommend this product, it provides a trouble-free experience and value for money.

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