How I Created a Blood Donation Database Using Google Sheet and PHLO

Donating blood is a rewarding process. According to the American Red Cross, one donation can save as many as three lives. Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood. But supply can’t always meet demand because only about 10% of eligible people donate blood yearly. Then, there is the problem of storage and distribution. The solution is hyperlocal. I have created a project that will store the details of the blood group and type of an entire community.

The idea is simple. A community could be an office, a school, or a small neighborhood. A community manager could be chosen and they would manage the database. Members of the community would send an SMS to a Plivo Number with their Name and Blood Group. Their details would get registered over a Google Sheet. This project would simplify the process of collecting and collating blood donor data and connect the donors with patients or their families in real time. This could potentially be a lifesaver and the best thing is that it is super easy to build it on PHLO.

Before You Get Started, You Will Need:

1. Google Account (Free)
2. PHLO by Plivo (Free Creation and Hosting)
3. Zapier Account (Free)

Step 1: Setting up a Zap

• Search “Webhooks” from Zapiers Built-In apps
• Select “Catch Hook” and click on “Next”
• Zapier would create a webhook for you.

Step 2: Setting up PHLO

• The incoming SMS node should be connected to the “HTTP Request” component on PHLO.

• HTTP Request component should be updated with the hook created on Zapier. In my case, this is a POST request to “https://hooks.zapier.com/hooks/catch/2965822/qfbtl9/”
• I would like to acknowledge and thank the community member for their intent. Hence, I have added a response over SMS. The final PHLO looks like this:

Step 3: Create and Link a Google Sheet

• Create a new Google Sheet
• Set it up on Zapier and add an action on the Zap
• Adding Google Sheet to the hook would complete the database.

Your community database is ready in under 5 minutes. Buy a Phone Number and attach the PHLO to take your set-up live.

When a natural disaster strikes, whether it’s a superstorm or a rash of exceptionally bad wildfires, internet connectivity is a big problem. SMS, on the other hand, have high availability. The community manager could broadcast outbound messages and reach the members of the community at the hour of need.