By Alyssa McCoy
Murphy News Service
The American Red Cross has launched a new mobile app that makes it almost effortless to donate blood.
The free Blood Donor App is a first-of-its kind. It puts the power to save lives right in the palm of the user’s hand.
“The Red Cross Blood Donor App is a new way to help meet the constant need for blood,” CEO of the Red Cross North Central Blood Services Region Geoff Kaufmann said.
With access through iPhone and Android devices, the app offers many features. “Users are able to schedule blood donations, track their total donations, earn rewards and invite friends to join them on a lifesaving team,” Sue Thesenga, American Red Cross media contact, said.
The Blood Donor App is a first-of-its kind. It has more features than scheduling. Using the app, a donor can locate nearby blood drives, share blood donation “selfies,” and donors can form teams to track their cumulative impact. Users can receive messages on blood shortage alerts, read blood-recipient stories, and user’s can even follow the blood journey from donation through delivery, when available. There are special badges users can unlock through their interaction with the app, as well as receiving rewards from participating retailers for donating, Thesenga said.
The Red Cross is the nation’s single largest supplier of blood and blood products, with award-winning disaster and preparedness apps that have been downloaded more than 5 million times in the past two years, Thesenga said.
“The new Blood Donor App takes it one step further by helping people save lives through blood donations,” Thesenga said.
“The app makes it easier, faster and more convenient for users to schedule and manage their donation appointments, track the lifetime impact of their donations, and recruit friends and family to roll up a sleeve with them,” Kaufmann said.
The Blood Donor App can be found by visiting redcross.org/apps or redcrossblood.org/bloodapp, searching for American Red Cross in app stores, or by texting BLOODAPP to 90999.
“You hold the power to save lives,” the app declared.