The project the walking blood bank seeks to address the lack of donor blood in Ukraine by registering new donors through outreach activities that include registration and a free blood type tests performed on an EldonCard. People register themselves as blood donors at DonorAU’s website and receive a blood type test on an EldonCard in support of the registration. The project was kicked off in the city of Lviv and blood type testing and registration took place at the city square and at a local mall.
The blood type test was performed by newly educated trainers from all over Ukraine, including Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Odessa, and other cities. When they return to their own cities, they will train additional trainers, who will help scale-up blood type testing and donor recruitment.
The project aims to achieve two interrelated goals. The first goal is to increase the number of regular blood donors, who will donate blood at blood centers at regular intervals. The second goal is to have a register of blood donors, who can be called upon, in case of emergencies or immediate shortages of donor blood of a particular blood type, to come immediately to donate blood at the specific location, where their blood is urgently needed.
The project is implemented in partnership between DonorUA, Operation SafeDrop (MAD Foundation), and Eldon Biologicals A/S.