The Australian Red Cross lifeblood service in Victoria has put out a plea for donations as stock levels drop due to seasonal illnesses taking hold.
To maintain stock levels held in hospitals, Lifeblood Executive Director of Donor Experience Cath Stone told AAP they need blood and plasma donors “right now.”
She explained that some blood types had dropped to critical levels.
“We have empty chairs across our network every single day,” she said.
Lifeblood primarily manages blood donation in Australia. It collects and processes blood, plasma, and platelet donations across the state.
Blood donations are crucial, with every donation potentially saving up to three lives. On average, three donations are needed every minute in Australia to meet the demand.
“Almost 4,000 bags of blood are needed by hospitals every day across Australia to help patients in times of trauma, major surgery, cancer treatment, pregnancy, and for a range of other medical conditions,” Ms. Stone said.
She added it was likely the call for blood would be repeated again during the coming winter and she encouraged those willing to step forward to boost supply.
“If you’ve been waiting for the right time to become a donor or have been thinking about coming back to donate, this is the time to act,” Ms. Stone said.
What Is Donated Blood Used For?
Blood is often required in large quantities for patients involved in accidents and surgeries which requires urgent transfusions.People undergoing cancer treatment like chemotherapy also sometimes need transfusions to replace blood cells as do women with postpartum hemorrhaging.
Plasma-derived from blood has applications in treating burns and trauma victims by providing proteins used for clotting, and platelet transfusions are a critical component of the treatment for leukemia patients.
The most common blood type in Australia is O-positive, seen in just under 40 percent of the population. It is followed by A-positive, which makes up approximately 32 percent of the population, while AB negative is the rarest blood type found in just about 1 percent of people.
A diverse donor pool is required to service the varied needs of patients, especially those with rare blood types.
Who Can Give Blood
In general terms, blood donation is open to anyone in Australia aged 18 to 75 who is feeling well and weighs over 50 kilograms.Blood is considered self-sufficient in Australia, but while a third of Australians have given blood at some point in their lives, only around three percent are regular donors.
Opposition to giving blood has numerous reasons, often shaped by a dislike for needles and theories over contamination.
People who lived in the UK between 1980-1996 were previously banned from donating in Australia due to Mad Cow disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) which led to a major public health crisis when it was linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans, resulting from the consumption of BSE-contaminated beef.
In 2022, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved Red Cross Lifeblood to receive donations from people who lived in the UK during the stated period.
