Jamshedpur, Feb. 24: The city is home to six people with the rare “Bombay” blood group. A sub-group of O, which lacks the H antigen, the blood group is also known as the OH group, said senior medical officer of Jamshedpur Blood Bank, Dr S.K. Singh.

All the six are registered with the Jamshedpur Blood Bank so that they can be contacted during an emergency.

The group is so named as the blood type was first found in a person from Bombay.

People born with this blood type form a select group. A patient with Bombay blood group can only receive blood from another OH group person. Even the blood type, O, which is known as the universal donor, is rejected by his system.

A record of the number of people with this blood type is assiduously maintained.

Vice-president of Indian Society of Blood Transfusion and Immunohaematology (ISBTI), New Delhi, S.P. Trivedy revealed that whenever a person of the Bombay blood group is identified anywhere in the country, he is immediately informed.

“The person is asked not to donate blood on a regular basis so that his serivces can be availed of in an emergency. As a formality, the person is also asked to give in writing that he or she will donate blood in an emergency.”

If the individual refuses, the decision cannot be challenged in the court of law as no one can be forced into donating blood, clarified Trivedy.

“The unfortunate thing is that most blood banks in the country including the Jamshedpur Blood Bank scrambles to contact these people only in an emergency.”

The banks keep a record of their residential addresses but have no means to contact a person if he moves out of the city.

Officials felt that the blood banks should keep regular contact with this rare breed.

“There are only six persons in the steel city and it is not difficult for the blood banks to maintain contact them on a monthly or quarterly basis. This way, they can track them if they move out of the city,” he said.

Chairman of Jamshedpur Blood Bank, Sumathi Muthuraman welcoming the suggestion said, “I will take up the matter with other board members and experts soon. If there are no logistical problems in keeping touch with Bombay group individuals, we will definitely do so at the earliest.”