Former dengue patient creates network for blood donors

“My platelet count had dropped to critical level and the only thing that would help me with my condition would be to undergo blood transfusion. Unfortunately for me, it was also the season of dengue. I realized that the supply of blood was low when the doctor had to tell my relatives to call as many people as they could who could donate blood. And they did,” he explained.

Because then it was so hard to get blood, he had to call his relatives. This is what inspired Joel to try and change this scenario, because it remains almost the same 20 years later.

“Today in 2015, we are still in that same scenario that every time someone needs blood, the patient’s relatives have to call or text as many people as they can. Some hospitals ask for replacement donors twice the amount that the patient had used in order to replenish their blood supply,” the founder said.

Blood donors network, as the name suggests, is a non-profit online initiative that aims to create a database of regular blood donors in Asia. It works by, for example, when an institution sends a request of B+ blood type, donors with that particular type of blood would notified by receiving an SMS.
The project’s goals is to increase the acquisition of new blood donors, the retention rate of existing blood donors, and establish comprehensive data about donors.
Using gamification, through web and mobile apps, the users register as part of a community of donors. And on the recipients’ side, they post the geo-specific blood type request to the network, and can also share it to Facebook and Twitter.

“They can manage blood requests that could directly send to a maximum of 100 blood donors that are geo- and blood type-targeted. This saves time and money when searching for the specific blood type needed instead of the usual random process,” Joel expressed.

The app prototype is still being tested.

Adapted from: http://bit.ly/2kU1Uki

More info: https://www.bloodhero.net
https://youtu.be/ohX7Yu0kRlc