Blood donors in Sweden get a thank you text for blood donations

Reuters

Blood donations have saved countless lives. It's a vital service that everyone knows of, but for some baffling reason blood donation rates are going down.

In a move that aims to encourage people to donate blood, and to keep them returning to blood banks, Sweden is utilizing the power of technology and social media.

A blood donor will initially receive a "thank you" text when they donate blood, and then another text once their blood is actually used and have saved a life.

Sweden's Blodentralen, the blood center who came up with the idea, says that their initiative has so far generated positive responses from both the local and social media.

Karolina Blom Wiberg, the Blodentralen's communications manager, says they're always thinking of ways to communicate to the donors how important their donations are.

"We want to give them feedback on their effort, and we find this is a good way to do that," she added. More importantly, the texts might make the donors come back and give blood again. Blood donors can also ask that the bank remind them to donate again either through SMS or Facebook.

This texting service has proven to be quite effective so the program is also being rolled out in other areas across the country.

The United States doesn't have any service similar to that but the American Red Cross' Blood Donor app works in a similar way. Donors don't receive a text message, but they can track their "blood's journey from donation to delivery."

 In Britain, the number of blood donors has dropped by 40% so the NHS Blood and Transplant service have also been trying to come up with ways to shore up donations. One campaign during National Blood Donation Week saw street signs and shop signs missing the letters "O" and "A," a reminder of blood types that needed more donors.

Jon Latham, the NHS' assistant director for donor services, explains the need to get more blood donors. He said that while they can still meet the demands of patients now, "it's important we strengthen the donor base for the future."

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