Not only is Tran Phuoc Hung always on standby in case his blood is needed for emergency medical use but he has also coordinated seamlessly activities for more than one thousand regular donors to make sure the much-needed fluid gets to the right person promptly.

Hung, 39, from Ngu Hanh Son District in Da Nang, is popular among local residents for his role in connecting recipients with about 1,400 regular donors who are willing to give away their precious blood to save lives.

The man readily puts his farm work aside to answer any emergency calls for life-saving blood transfusions.

On a typical day, Hung acted promptly as he got a phone call from a person whose relative was in dire need of a blood transfusion while receiving treatment at Quang Nam Regional General Hospital, located in Dien Ban Town in the neighboring province of Quang Nam.

He carefully recorded the conversation and contacted the hospital to confirm the information before posting the appeal in search of a suitable blood donor on his Mau Nong – Hieu va Thuong (Much-Needed Blood – Understand and Love) club’s website.

Hung also entered the item in an app called Hieu va Thuong (Understand and Love), which lists up to dozens of O blood type donors scattered across the town.

It typically takes more than 10 phone calls to make sure that at least two donors will go to hospital in the shortest of time, as many are too busy for a hospital visit or need time to recuperate following the latest donation.

“A frequent blood donor over the past several years, I remember almost all the nurses’ names, so it’s easy to confirm the information. Hospital staff sometimes provide our club’s hotline number to those in need,” Hung said.

Thanks to his help, all three people whose relatives desperately needed blood that morning called him back with good news.  

Though blood drives have recently resumed in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City following months-long postponement as donation was hampered by the government’s social distancing advisory and ban on public gatherings in response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Da Nang still faces a shortage of blood for medical transfusion and slightly higher daily demand, with students, the major force, yet to return to city-based universities.

His presence at blood donation facilities is an immense source of encouragement to first-time donors, comfort to recipients, and inspiration to potential donors.      

Hung shared many of his club members’ visits to the hematology facilities are energetic answers to his appeals to donate blood, with them never hoping for anything in return.

They even give away cookies and milk provided by the blood facilities as nourishment following donations to the recipients.

“Many of the people who benefit from these donations still keep in close touch with our club members. Some even join as donors and ask their entire families to sign up for donations as well,” Hung added.

Hung founded the club in 2015, and struggled to manually connect donors and monitor donation schedules. 

Tran Dai Son, a club member then and one of the administrators now, came up with the Hieu Va Thuong app that better keeps a check on club members’ profiles, donation history, availability of blood at a certain point of time, ratios of blood types and gender, set up schedules based on time needed for donors to replace the given blood volume, and pinpoint potential donors in next to no time. 

Heeding Hung’s advice, Son came to add the app to his graduation thesis at the Da Nang University of Technology.

“On my thesis defense day, members of the thesis committee were surprised that my project had been put to good use and gave positive feedback on its outstanding quality and rich humanitarian values,” the IT engineer recalled, adding some committee members are now among the club’s most active volunteers.

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Nhieu, deputy head of the Quang Nam Regional General Hospital’s trauma and orthosis department, is highly appreciative of Hung’s pivotal role in sustaining the club’s activities.

“The thing that counts is to keep members’ zeal ablaze and blood reserves brimming in different times. I highly appreciate Hung’s considerable contributions, unfailing enthusiasm, and timely presence to donate blood without fail to help save lives,” Dr. Nhieu noted.

The club currently enjoys a membership of more than 1,400 people, with around 1,000 readily answering any emergency calls for life-saving blood transfusions at a single time.

Since the launch of the Hieu va Thuong app in 2016 alone, the club has made more than 2,700 donations of blood and platelets which helped jerk critically ill patients and road accident victims back from The Grim Reaper’s grip.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!