Bulacan Rep. Reylina Nicolas said many accident victims die or suffer from physical disabilities or complications because of the delay in blood transfusion brought about by the lack of awareness on the blood type of the victims and responding parties.
"While this inadequate response to the victims can be traced to the responding party being unaware of the victim's blood type, it can also be traced to the responding party's ignorance of his or her own blood type that prevents him or her from voluntarily donating blood," said Nicolas.
Nicolas said blood-typing in emergency situations is inadvisable because it delays more important medical procedures.
"During exigent situations like accidents, affliction of dengue fever virus, which could lead to excessive blood loss, there should be an immediate matching of the correct blood type to be transfused in order to save the life of the victim. The knowledge of one's blood type would allow an immediate transfusion of the appropriate blood supply," said Nicolas.
In view of this, Nicolas filed House Bill 1311 or the proposed "Blood Type Identification Act of 2004" that shall require all government-issued identification cards, certificates and licenses to include a portion indicating the blood type of the holder.
