Blood donation - an essential service

“Donating blood and plasma remains an essential activity to keep blood flowing to patients across the country, and travel and venue restrictions do not prevent you from giving blood – we need you now more than ever,” Lifeblood Chief Executive Shelly Park said. 

“As healthcare settings, our blood donor centres are open and our teams are ready to welcome donors who are healthy and well.

“Even though this situation continues to change rapidly, there are still patients in hospital who need blood and are relying on people to continue making these generous donations,” Ms Park added. 

Last week, Lifeblood appealed for more than 14,000 people to come forward and donate blood or plasma and while many people have answered the call, an additional 10,000 donors are still needed over the next three weeks.

“Coronavirus does not stop the need for blood and plasma. It is a critical resource and demand for blood is constant and will continue to be,” Ms Park said. 

“There are currently, and will continue to be over the coming weeks and months, patients involved in road accidents who need large volumes of blood for transfusions, cancer patients who will still need support to survive their treatment, and there will still be women who experience complications while giving birth, as well as many others who rely on this precious resource.

“We would like to say a very big thank you to everyone who has answered our call so far, however this will be an ongoing need and we urge everyone to make blood or plasma donation part of their immediate and ongoing plans.

“We need your help to keep Australia’s lifeblood flowing,” Ms Park added. 

You can book your donation online, call 13 14 95 or download the Donate Blood app.