Things that make you go “hmm”

A drop in Oceania 

Each drop of blood is made up of approximately 200-300 million red blood cells. That’s roughly 11 and a half times the population of Australia, in just a single drop of your blood. 

Time of your life-giving donation

A blood donation takes around 10 minutes, and one is needed by someone in Australia every 24 seconds. Allow an hour for the whole appointment, which includes meeting with a friendly staff member before your donation and having a tasty (and free!) snack and drink after.

Near, far, wherever you are

Together, the total distance that blood donations travel in a typical week is around 4 million kilometres. That’s like flying to the moon and back five times!

The power that lies within you 

There are on an average, five litres of blood circulating in the human body. When you donate blood, you give around 470ml or a pint. We know our snacks might tempt you to hurry over to the refreshments area, but it’s important to take your time and rest for a few minutes in the chair after donating blood. 

Keen spleen purifying machine

Known as the ‘security guard’ of the body, the spleen is responsible for purifying blood. It acts as a filter that only lets healthy blood cells pass through. Your spleen picks out old or damaged red blood cells and breaks them down after saving any useful bits such as iron, thus keeping only clean blood circulating within the body.

Let’s talk platelets

Got a cut doing absolutely nothing? We’ve all been there. Luckily for you, there are tiny fragments of cells made in your bone marrow that clump together whenever you bleed because of a cut or bruise. These are called platelets and they prevent unwanted blood loss.

Now that you’ve got a few new facts up your sleeve, why not roll them up? Book in a donation today.