The Nursing and Midwifery Council is threatening to punish nurses who agree to collect blood from red-shirt protesters for the plan to pour blood around Government House today.
"We will consider punishing them on a case-by-case basis," council president Prof Vijit Sriruphan said yesterday. "They should know that collecting blood is only done for research or medical purposes."
But she said the council would not go as far as cutting nurses' professional licences.
Vijit expressed concern over the mass blood collection at at the rally site, saying that it could put demonstrators at risk because some medical devices could be contaminated.
She spoke after Dr Weng Tojirakarn, a leader of the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship (DAAD), said he would mobilise 500 medical workers, including doctors and nurses, to draw blood from red-shirt demonstrators.
The blood campaign is a move aimed at pressuring Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve the House of Representatives.
But many health authorities expressed serious concern as soon as the idea was unveiled.
Medical Council secretary general Dr Samphan Komrit said it was highly unlikely the reds would be able to mobilise 500 medical workers for the protest today. He said taking blood from people could be dangerous if it wasn't done by trained medical workers.
Deputy director of the Thai Red Cross Society's National Blood Centre, Commander Dr Ubonwan Jarunreungrit, said a blood puncture could cause paralysis if the needle was put in the wrong position.
"Or if the puncture is made on an artery, people will lose a lot of blood and they may suffer shock," she warned.
Thai Red Cross Aids Research Centre director Dr Praphan Panuphak disagreed with the red shirts' blood campaign. If protesters did not have adequate sleep, they would be exhausted after having blood drawn out, he said.
Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit warned protesters not to use the same needle to draw out blood as they would be at risk from infectious diseases such as HIV/Aids and hepatitis.
He also said red shirts should avoid giving blood in sunlight as that could put them at risk of suffering a stroke.
Samphan, of the Medical Council, also disagreed with the red shirts' blood campaign. "I can't say that this is an abuse of the code of medical conduct or not, but it would be the first [such] case in history," he said.
Samphan said the council would discuss the issue at its next meeting if somebody filed a complaint about the move.
