What happens after a blood request is posted
There are four stages in the app, from a request being posted to a donation being recorded. Each one is described below, along with what information is shown at that point.
Posting a request
Anyone who needs blood for a patient can post a request.
The request gives the blood group, the number of units, the hospital, the date it is needed by and a contact person. It can be marked as high, medium or low urgency. The person posting is responsible for these details; Vital does not check them.
Requests are public, so they can be forwarded on WhatsApp. The contact’s phone number is not shown.
Alerting matching donors
Donors whose listed blood group matches are alerted.
Vital looks for available donors within 25 km of the hospital whose listed blood group is compatible with the request. For a B+ patient, for example, that includes O−, O+, B− and B+ donors. Blood groups are entered by donors themselves.
Those donors are alerted by notification and message. Donors who have not added a location yet are matched by district instead and get an email. Each donor decides for themselves whether to respond.
Offering to donate
A donor ticks a self-check, then chooses to offer.
Before offering, the donor declares that they are well today and have not recently had antibiotics, alcohol, a tattoo, surgery, or an infection such as malaria or dengue. This is their own declaration; the hospital or blood bank decides who can donate.
Once they offer, the donor and the requester can see each other’s phone number. Numbers are not shown at any earlier point. From here, any contact or arrangement is directly between them, at their own discretion.
Recording the donation
The requester records each donation with the donor’s PIN.
Every offer gets its own private 4-digit PIN, shown only to the donor. After donating, they give it to the requester, who enters it to mark the donation as completed in Vital. It works only for that offer.
When enough units have been confirmed, the request closes automatically, and Vital starts counting the donor’s recovery period.
What Vital does not do
Vital is a free platform where people can post blood requests and voluntary donors can see and respond to them. Vital does not arrange, supervise, verify, promote or guarantee any donation, donor or request, and is not involved in any payment. Any contact or arrangement is entirely between the people involved, at their own discretion and responsibility, and blood is collected only by hospitals and licensed blood banks, which decide who can donate.
Information shown in the app is self-declared by users and is not checked by Vital. In an emergency, contact the hospital or a blood bank directly, or call 112. See the Terms.
Register as a donor
If you are between 18 and 65 and in good health, you can register. You will be alerted to requests within about 25 km of you that match your blood group, and you decide whether to respond.
Become a donor