Red Cross girds for ISO certification

THE Philippine Red Cross (PRC) in Iloilo is eyeing to get an ISO Certification following the recently renovated blood center.

PRC Secretary General Gwendolyn Pang said the modern blood facility is now ready for worldwide recognition brought about by the recent renovation and expansion spearheaded by the PRC Iloilo chapter.

The renovated facility was inaugurated last Saturday, March 2, 2013 and the new state of the art equipment were turned by donors Gochangco family and Rotary Club of Midtown Iloilo.

Among others, the donated equipment includes freezers, refrigerator, televisions and agitators on top of funding assistance for building renovation, Pang said.

Pang admitted that it is now time for the chapter and blood center modernization to expect leveling up as a blood collection center in Western Visayas and become an excellent reference center for blood banking services in the Philippines which include improving the skills of staff and training abroad.

A team from Iloilo City will be sent within the year to train possibly in Thailand and Sydney, Australia while teams from abroad and the national office will come to Iloilo as the next reference center to observe blood banking services, Pang added.

Pang said the laudable efforts of PRC-Iloilo, headed by Chairman Ramon Cua Locsin and chapter Administrator Gilbert Paul Valderrama, are manifested in the upgrading of chapter office and blood center and facility.

Established in Iloilo as the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) in 1946 with a separate blood center, the facility was refurbished in 2011 as the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) local chapter that operated and managed the blood center.

Pang said the local chapter has already gone very far to lead the blood facility in Western Visayas. It was recognized as number one in the Visayas and number three in the national level in terms of blood collection in 2012 that follows the chapters in Metro Manila and Mindanao.

The blood facility shows the sharp determination of the local chapter and identified as partner of the Department of Health for HIV-AIDS Round 6 project site, Pang said.