This is so exciting to hear! I have been so frustrated with what I hear about the Blood Bank system here. One of my biggest complaints is the "blood type on your driver's license" system here. It is worse than arriving at the hospital with no blood type. There is a HUGE reason this is not done in the U.S., the lab could have been wrong, or people may carry "fake ID". No lab in the U. S. would give someone AB blood without typing them in the hospital. I can't tell you how many times, in my personal experience, that someone's little card was dead wrong.. Especially those that were issued to U.S. Service members. Unless you are re-typed, and then your blood is actually physically mixed into a test tube with the blood they are about to send down your vein, this could be an instant fatality. The new system as described will bring Panama into the first world category and out of the third world.
The fact that blood will now be typed, stored, tested for Aids and Hepatitis is huge. We should not have to put out an all-call each time blood is needed. Whole blood should NEVER be given, only the red blood cells. Once a unit of blood is donated, it is good in a refrigerator for 60 days. We should be able to store 2 units of each type in Boquete, or other town outside of David, and save some lives. Good news indeed that this is in the works.
If you have hypertension, like I do, and take your BP medicine, you know how this works. It opens up your kidneys with a diuretic, to reduce pressure in the vascular system. Most of us, women especially, know how puffy our hands and feet become when we consume an excess of salty snacks. Imagine doing that and not taking your blood pressure medicine. The salt causes fluid retention. Thanks for the video posting. With all the illustrations, I could still understand most even with my limited Spanish.