Project Name: Friends2support
Organisation: Friends to Support
Project Location & Coverage Area: India
Project URL: www.friends2support.org
Area of intervention: Health
Four young software engineers worked together to develop mobile app Friends2support so that citizens can access blood facility from anywhere in the country. Jayanth Justin from Kottayam in Kerala developed the Android App and is available on the Google Play. Another software engineer Auston D’sa from Bangalore developed the Windows App, while Abhilash Reddy from Hyderabad developed I-Phone App (iOS) and Jayant B working as SW engineer in Gurgaon (Haryana) designed the Symbian App.
The mobile app of the F2S uses SMS technology to send information about blood donors. Registered users receive SMS along with their user name and password when they registered as blood donors or request for forgotten password They will get thank you SMS when they donate blood. They will get reminder SMS when they have completed three months from their last blood donation. After donating blood, donor name will be hidden till next 90 days to avoid calls to him. On 91st day his name will be automatically visible in the search results.
Friends2Support is an Android app that allow citizens to access blood donors anywhere. It is an extension of web based services and the app is available on Google Play. The app provides services including blood donor search within a specified geographical area, state, district & city along with blood group providing one touch access to a list of registered donors in an emergency, free of cost. Anyone from any part of the country can log onto this website or call toll free helpline number for a list of blood donors in their particular area. The website essentially is a database of blood donors in all the districts of any Indian State.
Reach & Road Ahead
Till date, the app has been installed by 5000 users and more 1.5 voluntary donors have signed up for this service. Recently the FB page has received 7,000+ likes. The organization is also trying to partner with various agencies such as SEEDS and Café Owners’ Association based in Guntur that allows people to register themselves as donors and search for info on donors free-of-charge at their Internet centres in the city. F2S has compiled a comprehensive ‘State-District-Location’ database in the Country (almost 8000+ locations in India).
In the future, F2S plans to set up a Global Positioning System (GPS) tracker, which will automatically detect the location of the caller, and send details of available blood donors along with the status of the availability of the donor to the caller, through voluntary call analysts, having sound regional knowledge, in every single state.