Essay on skin donation it’s brief and it’s importance
Answers
Skin Banking and Skin Donation
In a developing country like India, where the social inequalities among the genders are high about 7 million people suffer from burn injury every year. Out of this 80% are women and children. Rest 20% is men at factories and other work places.
Why Skin Donation?
In case of burns, SKIN – the primary protective barrier of the body - is destroyed and the body is exposed to infectious agents. If the burnt area is not immediately covered with some skin substitutes, then patients are prone to infection, fluid loss and ultimately death. In case of smaller percentage of burns (lesser total body surface area burnt), skin from the un-burnt area of the patient is taken out and put on the burn wound to cover it. But when burns percentage is more than 40% to 50%, then the patient’s own skin is not available to cover the burn wound. In that scenario we need some skin substitutes. It is said that skin is the best substitute for skin. Thus, Skin donated after death(cadaveric skin) is the best and cheapest substitute compared to artificial skin substitutes. Such skin is a temporary dressing. But, it is important as it helps in patient’s own skin to regenerate. 80% of such patients can be saved if we have enough skin in skin bank. Thus arises the need of skin donation. One can donate one's skin after death to save someone else’s life
Rotary Club of Bombay North (RCBN) Skin Bank
There was a great need of establishing a skin bank to collect process and preserve human cadaver skin donated after death. The processed donor skin helps immensely in the treatment of extensive burn. It has been observed that the surgical application donor skin on burn wound has improved the treatment outcome. Many patients who could not have been saved without donor skin are being saved now.
The Skin bank not only caters to NBC requirement but it also caters to the whole nation as there is no other skin bank of such high quality in the country today.
So, RCBN Skin Bank is a place where skin collected from eligible deceased donor is processed, preserved and distributed as per INTERNATIONAL PROTOCOLS.