Day 5 of Panjab University NSS special camp

Chandigarh: Panjab University NSS Special Camp Day 5 began with meditation. Volunteers have now started following this habit of meditating in their routine. Meditation has helped them in calming themselves and they are very happy with the positive change they are undergoing. 

After this a session on “Blood Stem Cell Transplant” was held by Mrs. Anuradha Tandon. She told the volunteers about “Datri-Act Now, Gift a Life”. Datri is a not-for-profit organization that was founded in 2009 with a mission to save lives of those from life threatening fatal blood disorders like blood cancer, thalassemia, leukemia, aplastic anaemia, sickle cell anaemia etc. DATRI is registered with Government of India. DATRI is working towards creating a wide and diverse database of potential Blood Stem Cell Transplant. She mentioned that for a successful blood stem cell transplantation, the patient’s genetic typing (HLA Typing) needs to closely match with that of the donor. HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) Typing Test is conducted to identify the genetic typing of both donor and recipient and donation process for both stem cells and bone marrow. She also mentioned that adults from the age of 18-50 years can donate their stem cells. Till date they have 4.5 lac donors registered and they have helped 680 patients. But the main problem faced by them is they do not find the particular match. So, she appealed the volunteers about the registration process and voluntary services for datri. The session was concluded with a question -answer round followed by registration process. A total of 100 NSS volunteers registered themselves with DATRI for being potential stem cell donors.

Later, a session on “Disaster Management” was conducted by Mr. Satpal Singh, Sub-Fire officer and Mr. Sushil Kumar leading fireman from Fire Station Sector-11, Chandigarh. Mr. Satpal Singh discussed about various natural and man-made disasters. He talked about single emergency helpline number 112 for immediate assistance. He also told the volunteers about how to react and behave in times of disaster. The volunteers raised various questions regarding the disaster mitigation. They gave demonstrations regarding fire extinguishers and fire safety. The volunteers were given practical tips on how to use fire extinguishers and were also told about the after effects of fire. The session generated a lot of awareness among the volunteers about fire safety followed by a question answer round.  The day ended with an NSS Song by Ritika Verma and the volunteers were also taught a new NSS power clap.