Questions donors ask us most

In general: a healthy person aged 18–65, weighing at least 50 kg, with a haemoglobin level of 12.5 g/dL or above. You will not be left to guess — the blood bank checks your blood pressure, temperature and haemoglobin on site before anything is collected.

Postpone if you have a fever or active infection, are on antibiotics, had a tattoo or piercing in the past six months, had recent surgery, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or donated whole blood within the last eight weeks. Always answer the screening questions truthfully — the medical staff make the final call, and honesty protects the patient.

As a rule of thumb, men may donate whole blood every three months and women every four. One Drop enforces a 56-day cooling-off between donations; once it passes, your listing automatically becomes available again — no action needed from you.

Eat a normal meal (never donate on an empty stomach), drink extra water, and sleep properly the night before. Skip heavy exercise that morning and carry your national ID or birth certificate. Ten minutes of preparation makes the donation visibly easier.

The needle prick lasts a few seconds; the collection itself takes about 8–10 minutes. Some donors feel light-headed briefly — resting for ten minutes with the juice they provide is usually all it takes. Your body replaces the lost plasma within 24 hours.

Yes — completely safe. Every donation uses a brand-new, sterile, single-use kit, opened in front of you and discarded afterwards. You cannot catch an infection by donating blood.

No. The directory, the emergency board and the compatibility tools are open to everyone, with no sign-up. Only people who want to be listed as donors register — and even that requires no email and no password.

No. Your number stays masked on your card. A requester must actively tap Show contact, and each browser is limited to 25 reveals per hour — a deliberate brake on bulk scraping and cold-call spam.

Open My donor profile on the device you registered from and tap Remove my listing — it takes effect immediately. If you only need a break, use Mark as busy instead: you disappear from searches without losing your record.

When a donor allowed location access, distance uses their shared coordinates. When they did not, we fall back to the centre of their district — an estimate, and labelled as such. The card always shows the district so you can judge for yourself.

Yes, within limits. Once installed as an app, the interface and the most recent data keep working without a connection. A request posted offline is stored on your device and syncs automatically the moment you are back online.

Yes. The One Drop community on WhatsApp is where verified emergency requests get forwarded, donation camps are announced, and donors ask each other quick questions between requests. Joining is entirely optional — everything on this website works without it — and you can leave the community whenever you like.
Join the One Drop WhatsApp community ↗

Completely free — no ads, no sponsors, no fees hidden anywhere. It runs on free student infrastructure and is maintained in the spare time of the Batch 27 volunteers.