Managing Blood Transfusion Services During Armed Conflicts and Man-Made Disasters

Abstract

Blood transfusion services (BTS) face unprecedented operational challenges during armed conflicts and man-made disasters. While natural calamities disrupt infrastructure, wars and terrorist attacks directly overwhelm medical services through mass casualties, psychological trauma, and logistical breakdown. From border conflicts to terrorism, the demand for blood increases sharply and unpredictably. This brief review outlines the operational preparedness, emergency protocols, and coordinated response mechanisms necessary for managing blood banks during conflict scenarios, using recent experiences from South Asia, especially the recent India-Pakistan context. It highlights donor management, inventory planning, national coordination, communication strategy, and institutional leadership as critical pillars of effective BTS functioning in emergencies. Pakistan’s evolving experience with disaster response in BTS offers valuable lessons for the region, i.e. building a voluntary donor culture, strengthening national coordination, and never let logistics become the weakest link in crisis. As wars and man-made disasters remain an unfortunate reality in many regions, it is vital for blood services to move beyond reactive approaches toward institutionalized resilience.
Keywords: blood services, disaster, armed conflicts