Kozhikode: The blood donation groups in the district are using social media network to effectively help the patients. Facebook pages, WhatsApp groups and Instagram pages bridge the gap between donors and recipients. The groups remain in touch with hospitals and blood banks for getting the right donors at the right time. More than 15 blood donors' collectives are operating in the city alone.
The government blood banks in Medical College Kozhikode and Women and Children Hospital, General Hospital as well as private blood banks get their services.
The Malabar Blood Bank Society, Mukkam, has contacts of over 4,000 donors. They post messages including the blood group required, name of the hospital, units required and details of patient in the Facebook page. They even post the photo and details of the donor. "The public are reluctant to donate blood even now. Our group has 10-plus WhatsApp groups with 2,000 members to share the messages," said T. Sugesh, admin of the collective.
"The college unions, college authorities and NSS groups contact us for blood," he added.
"Most of the members in our group are youngsters and we donate blood whenever required," said T. Nandagopal, member of the Calicut Blood Donors' group. Shagil Hameed, founder admin, said that they started their collective by adding the contacts from their friends' circle in 2010 by conducting a blood donation camp in their native place. "The patients or relatives in need never returned disappointed after approaching us for blood," he added.
"We receive a minimum of two calls for help daily and we share the requests in our WhatsApp groups" said Shagil. The collective even has an active group for blood donation in Dubai too. The district medical office also seeks the help of these collectives.
