Short answer
A blood bank collects, tests, stores and issues blood, usually inside or next to a hospital. A donor register like Khidmat does none of that: it finds willing people whose blood a patient can receive, so they can go and give at the blood bank. In Pakistan most blood still comes from family and replacement donors, so knowing where to find donors matters as much as knowing where the blood bank is.
Blood bank or donor register: what is the difference?
People search for “blood bank in Quetta” when they need blood, but two different things can help:
| Blood bank | Donor register (Khidmat) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Collects blood, screens and tests it, stores it and issues it to patients | Keeps a list of willing donors and connects them with a patient who can receive their blood |
| Where | In or near a hospital | Online, on the Blood Bank page |
| Who tests the blood | The blood bank | Not Khidmat: always the hospital or blood bank |
| What you get | Blood, if it is in stock | Donors who can go to the blood bank and give |
You usually need both: the blood bank to test and give the blood, and donors to give it.
Where the blood in Pakistan comes from
Pakistan’s medical centres need over 5 million blood donations a year and receive about 2.3 million. Of those, about 1.9 million come from family or replacement donors, and only 18 percent are voluntary and unpaid (WHO, reported by Arab News, 2025).
A replacement donor is someone, often a relative or friend, who gives blood to replace what a patient has used. That is why a family in Quetta may be asked to arrange donors even when the blood bank can supply the patient: the stock has to be refilled for the next person.
What to ask when you call a blood bank
- Do you have the patient’s blood group in stock, and how many bags?
- Is whole blood, red cells, platelets or plasma needed?
- Do you need donors from the family, and how many?
- When can donors come, and what should they bring?
- What paperwork do you need from the ward or the doctor?
Write the answers down and keep them with the patient’s blood group. Every donor you call will ask the same questions.
What donors should know before they go
A donor will be asked about their health, checked for blood pressure and haemoglobin, and turned away if it is not safe for them or the patient. Common reasons to wait include a cold, flu or other infection, a tattoo or piercing in the last six months, and minor dental work in the last 24 hours (World Health Organization). Our guide to blood donation rules in Pakistan covers the rest.
Need blood in Quetta?
Tell us first, then call the donors shown to you.
Give the patient’s blood group, the hospital and your number. Khidmat shows you registered donors whose blood the patient can receive, the patient’s own group first, offered in turn.
Where Quetta blood donors come from
Most families start with relatives, neighbours and friends, then move to messages and public posts with long lists of names. Lists go out of date fast, the same few people are called again and again, and there is no way to know who gave last week.
Khidmat keeps the list fair. Donors register once. When a patient needs blood, the person asking sees donors whose blood the patient can receive, the patient’s own group first, offered in turn, and nobody who gave in the last six months.
Register as a donor in Quetta
If you are healthy and between about 18 and 60, you can probably give blood. Registering on the Blood Bank page takes a minute. You are asked only when a patient who can receive your blood group needs it, your number is never published, and you can pause or leave at any time.
Can you give?
Register once. We ask only when your blood can help.
You are contacted only when a patient who can receive your blood group needs blood, never within six months of your last donation, and your number is never published.
Questions people ask
Is Khidmat a blood bank?
No. Khidmat connects a person in need with willing donors. Screening, testing and the donation itself happen at the hospital or blood bank, under their rules.
Why does the hospital ask my family to bring donors?
Most blood in Pakistan comes from family and replacement donors, so blood banks rely on them to refill their stock for the next patient.
Can I get a blood donor list for Quetta?
Khidmat does not publish donor lists or numbers. Give the patient’s details on the Blood Bank page and you see matched donors, one at a time.
Sources
- WHO says Pakistan receives less than half of 5 million blood donations it needs annually, Arab News, 13 June 2025
- Who can give blood, World Health Organization
- Guide to blood donation rules and eligibility requirements, Husaini Blood Bank, Karachi, 2025
