Saudi Gazette There are very few people in this world who actually take time out for others, though everyone thinks about doing something for mankind at large but due to a number of reasons those thoughts do not materialize. Former Saudi pilot, Shbaib Al-Qahtani, is among those who wishes to make a difference in the lives of others. He has successfully divided his time between consulting for flight operations and working on creating an electronic blood bank on-line. “When I realized that there was on increasing number of people searching for blood donors that matched their blood types, the idea for this web-site was born. I wanted to develop a user friendly web-site that would facilitate the whole process of getting in touch with a blood donor, with the least amount of time wasted and effort spent. I sought the help of a professional technical company to help me realize this goal. In a short time, since the web-site was launched, which was only six months back, more than 10,000 people have registered as blood donors on the website,” Al-Qahtani told Okaz. The website has a list of names of the blood donors in the city of their choice, along with their contact information on the volunteer blood donors and their blood types. The web page which is extremely easy to use and navigate through aims to save precious time for those in need of blood because in seconds you can find a list of people willing to donate blood, along with all their contact information. The blood donor is contacted and requested to go to the hospital or health center where the patient in need is admitted. He added, “Although the web-site has been a success, we continuously work hard to improve its services. We are currently in the process of developing an SMS strategy that would tie the blood banks of all the hospitals in the Kingdom to our website. For example, by sending out just one SMS, we could reach out to thousands of blood donors.” The privacy of the blood donors who register themselves on the web-site is respected. “We must protect the privacy of all our members, whether they are the donors or the ones in need of blood. When a potential blood donor wants to sign up on the web-site, he/she chooses the most convenient means of contact, either by SMS or phone call, or both, and the best time to call,” said Al-Qahtani. Researchers have found that blood donors actually has numerous health benefits to the donors themselves. Studies show that individuals who donate blood once a year have lower incidences of blood cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Donating blood stimulates the bone marrow and increases its activity in manufacturing red and white blood cells and platelets. The fresh batch of new red blood cells makes them actually more efficient in carrying oxygen and nutrients to the body's tissues, which in turn helps to boost energy levels. Any potential blood donor must run a number of blood tests first, so this screening can actually serve as a way to diagnose some disorders and obtain early treatments for conditions, such as hepatitis, AIDS, cancer, syphilis, and other infectious diseases. __
