Coimbatore: An online directory containing names, addresses and telephone numbers of voluntary blood donors has been created by Dhaanush Educationals of Coimbatore to help patients during medical emergencies.

V. Bakthavatchalam, Managing Partner, said the company, which markets and distributes educational products, had gathered information on blood donors for six months and developed the online database.

He said he had been motivated to create the facility after meeting M. Alaudeen of Lions Club of Coimbatore Legend Blood Bank and Research Centre recently and noticing the need for voluntary blood donors.

In emergency

"Twenty calls for help reached Mr. Alaudeen within a short space of half-an-hour, prompting me to consider whether it would be possible to help larger numbers of people who need blood or blood components in an emergency," he observed.

This had led to the plan to create the online database and make it available through a link on www.dhanusheducationtimes.com, the official website of Dhaanush Educationals.

For quick access to various agencies, the company had chosen to classify the blood banks under the heads of `Government', `non-Government', `private sector' and `public sector', with separate lists for each district in Tamil Nadu. In the blood donors' category, the organisation had given the names of voluntary blood donors' clubs and associations, besides National Service Scheme (NSS) coordinators of colleges and universities. Names of contact persons and telephone numbers made it easy to contact an organisation that would in turn get in touch with its volunteers.

"When there are accidents on the highways, especially involving those who are on tour and far from their native places, relatives might not be able to reach the victims on time. These people need assistance and that is possible from anywhere, using the database," he observed.

50,000 stickers

There was a plan to distribute 50,000 stickers that could be put up in prominent places and especially in hospitals, so that those who needed blood could quickly get in touch with voluntary donors.

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