The Irish Blood Transfusion Service has launched a new app which aims to help blood donations and make planning to give blood more convenient for existing and new donors.
The IBTS is the national organisation responsible for collecting, processing, testing and distributing blood and blood products in Ireland. It relies completely on the generosity of voluntary non-remunerated donors to provide sufficient donations to ensure a consistent supply of blood and blood components to patients.
The organisation hopes the next version of the app will be able to offer donors the opportunity to make appointments for specific times on clinics via the website and app and enable them to look up their donation history.
Stephen Cousins, who has worked on the development of the app stated: "We rely completely on volunteers to give their blood (and time and effort) and we need to be addressing the challenges that donors (and potential donors) face in their efforts.
"We need to be making it as convenient as possible for them"
"In the modern charitable sector, if you are not continuously meeting volunteers and donors needs, you may struggle to benefit from their efforts. Thus for donors who have increasingly competing demands on their time, we need to be making it as convenient as possible for them to know where and when clinics are scheduled, and whether they are eligible in the main, to give blood."
He continued: "IBTS needs about 150,000 attendances annually across about 2,000 clinics nationally to enable it to meet hospitals demands for blood. Thus we are a major national volunteer movement - but for many of our volunteers, they see us as the blood clinic visiting their community locally.
"Thus we must be able to deliver a national service but crucially maintain a local relationship with communities and volunteers. In addition, giving blood is a very personal choice strongly linked to peoples personal motivations and reasons - thus we must strive to meet those donors in a 1 to 1 relationship as much as possible."
The IBTS have stated that the app will allow donors to search for upcoming clinics, be able to check if a donor can give blood, check current blood supply levels as well as the ability to share information with others that are blood donors.
Mr Cousins stated: "IBTS strives to maintain 7 days level of each blood group. If we start to fall below this for a particular blood group, we contact donors asking them to make an extra effort to attend that weeks clinics. Particular blood group supply fluctuates weekly based on demand from hospitals.
"In addition, different parts of the year are more challenging to maintain the 7 day supply such as Summer holiday periods / Christmas and January periods.
"By being able to check blood supplies, donors can assess whether they need to come into a clinic.
"An added benefit of this is that some donors can make the decision not to come in and so be eligible to come to a clinic within the next 90 days should the changing demand for their blood group warrant a clinic visit."
However, the organisation are still working on the development of the app: "In terms of donors, by end of 2015, this will include the development of appointments for those who want to avail of the service at fixed and mobile centre clinics, and a portal for donors to make and amend those appointments.
"We are also looking at the actual clinic processes and seeing how technology and internet communications can both streamline the donation process and enhance security and safety of blood donations and blood supply."
For more information on how to donate blood, you can log on to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service website or you can download the app here.
