Management of blood donation : a case study of national blood centre of Thailand

Abstract

The National Blood Centre (NBC) of Thailand is the major blood supplier for hospitals in Thailand with the responsibility of acquiring at least 1,500 units of blood per day from blood donation. This research mainly aims to search for the NBC’s management of blood donation, both in normal and unexpected situations, through interviews. The study also searches for the most important motives enhancing blood donation during unexpected events by employing a questionnaire. It found that NBC’s management of blood donations reveals special concepts beyond general blood donation management compared to other countries in the word. The generousness of people in the country results from the traditional way of life, as well as the “sufficiency economy” philosophy of King Bhumibol Adulyadej playing a key role toward the management of blood donations, both in normal situations and uncertainties. No matter how many times NBC has faced uncertainty, the management of blood donations is always effective. The three most important motives enhancing blood donations during uncertainty are (1) awareness of the need for blood, preparation, and benefits through social media, (2) many convenient places for blood donations besides NBC, and (3) sufficient parking spots for blood donors. These motives are derived from the attitude of blood donors by applying Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney's approaches