A Good Volunteer - Do's & Don'ts

Where it starts ?

You receive a WhatsApp forward message with details of a patient requesting your help for blood.

The patient may be your neighbour, friend, friend of friend, parent of your friend and may be anyone you may know or may not know.

What you actually do ?

You forward it to another group and someone in that group shares the same in some other group and it goes on as a long chain without any solution.


Self-evaluation or question yourself

You see someone seeking help and you forward it to someone.

* Do you think its humanity ?
* Do you think your responsibility ends there ?
* Do you think the needy gets satisfied because you do forward it ?

Let me give you some useful tips that you can do on hearing about a blood need or any blood component need.

Before working on a blood / blood component need, please note to ask the following questions to the patient's attender :

(Note: You may ask " what ! Asking questions to the persons who are in need ? " "Yuck- how hurting it would be "

My reply to you would be "Its better to ask questions rather than forwarding the request to someone")


Please make sure you ask the following questions to them :

1) Which hospital is that a private one or the government one ?

2) Does the hospital has a blood bank ?

3) If blood bank is there, the blood bank has enough stock of the required blood or not ?

4) If stock is available, will that hospital accept any blood group donor as replacement for the consumed unit of required blood ?

5) If yes and you are available nearby, you go and donate for them and ask their relatives to donate and close the request.

6) If the hospital don't have any blood bank, ask the hospital staff or doctors for their preferred private blood bank nearby and contact the blood bank for availability of required blood and repeat points 4 & 5.

7) In case of non-availability of blood stock,
Start your search with WhatsApp status. (In many cases the neighbour you fight may be the same required blood group, your ego may stop you from seeking help from them. "PLEASE UNDERSTAND, SOME BAD TIMES WILL COME IN OUR LIFE TO CREATE A BOND AND UNDERSTAND THE CARE, LOVE AND REAL FACE OF PEOPLE WHO SURROUND YOU".

8) Some options to search blood are as follows :

If your requirement is positive blood group you can find it over Whats-app status and by calling your friends. (while sharing in WhatsApp status or any other social media platforms, please enter the date of request along with the details and add your mobile number as contact details due to the following reasons)

#  On sharing the original attender number, many people may call them for verification and constantly disturb them in such a tensed situation. 

#  Sharing a request with the date of requirement will avoid spam circulation of blood requirements. (for e.g. Mr. Sudhir and his family went through a car accident and their kidneys are exclusively available only on WhatsApp for almost 4 years now.)

# When the request is being shared without phone number, when someone takes responsibility and checks it; the patient may or may not be alive and it may remind them the scenario and hurt them again.

If you won't get help you can use the following,

● You can find donors using Facebook, "YES FACEBOOK"

Read the article, courtesy : theverge.com

https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/28/16372702/facebook-india-blood-donors-shortage-hospitals-clinics

● Friends2support

Friends 2 support is a awesome website which helps you to get a list of donors in the region you are in need.

They have android app as well to get donors.

(Note : Taking a screenshot of donors and sending the list to the person in need is the most embarrassing thing, you take responsibility and verify if anyone from the list is available or not.

If you don’t want to do that please don't get involved )

● Seek help from online communities and groups you know. Your school friends Facebook page, your locality Facebook page or anything it may be.

( Note : No one will volunteer, if you don't ask them.

Volunteer - the word has transformed a lot due to lot of corrupted minds being involved for praising and self-praising mentality of some human )

● On failing the above methods do contact the blood organizers or Whats App groups you are in for blood donation.

● While sharing the blood requirement to the blood organizers, please do share the original attenders contact details.

THE GOOD DEEDS OF A QUALITY VOLUNTEER :

  

On seeing a WhatsApp message with any medical emergency requirement, please do the following:

#Call and check for the current status of the requirement.

#If the requirement is alive, please collect the following details:

1. Name of the patient:

2. Which blood group is needed :

3. How many units are needed :

4. Which hospital ?

5. Hospital has blood bank or where to donate ?

6. Blood is needed or any other blood components ?

7. Attender name ?

8. Attender phone number ?

9. Where attender / patient works ? (In case of MNC or companies with huge population, we can request the company HR for inter circular requesting the colleagues to come forward and donate)

10. Date of operation (or) date on which the blood is required.

11. Age of the patient ?

12. Problem / Case for which the blood is required. (e.g. Pregnancy, Heart surgery)

Provide the collected details on time to the blood co-ordinators when you fail to satisfy the need on the day before the operation