With blood donations nosediving, Australian Red Cross Lifeblood urgently needs 17,500 people to donate blood over the next week, as an escalating cold and flu season causes a shortage of supplies.
You can book online here, or by calling 13 14 95 to find your nearest donation location.
In normal conditions, one in three of us will need donated blood at some stage, but only one person in 30 donates blood. At the moment even these appointments are not being met. The result is a serious supply crunch.
Executive Director Cath Stone said Australia needs to act now to boost stocks of A, O and B blood groups, under pressure due to cancellations and no shows.
‘We know people are sick with cold and flu. We know people’s children are unwell and keeping donors at home. And we know many people are still having to isolate due to COVID. We also know that these circumstances are causing large numbers of appointment cancellations and no-shows,’ she said.
‘We are pleading with anyone who is well and healthy to book a donation today and encourage your friends and family to do the same.’
Appointments going begging
Ms Stone said Lifeblood continues to see up to half of all appointments cancelled.
‘We have 15,500 blood donations booked in for the next week, but based on current cancellations and no-shows, we know a large number of these won’t result in a donation.
‘And we still have thousands of appointments that need to be filled,’ she said.
‘There are patients in hospital right now who are relying on blood for cancer treatment, surgery, accidents and complicated births. If you don’t know your blood type, donating is a great way to find out. Every blood donation can help to save up to three lives,’ said Ms Stone.
Right now, people with A, O and B blood groups can book a donation online, on the DonateBlood app or by calling 13 14 95.
Donors have the choice of donating plasma, plasma or platelets. There is no payment, but free snacks! You can donate blood every 12 weeks, and plasma every two weeks.
Find out out more about the process here.
Many donors needed
State by state, the urgency of the situation across Australia can be seen in these figures, which show how many blood donor appointments are needed across the country to meet anticipated demand in the near future:
- NSW – 4500
- QLD – 4000
- VIC – 4500
- WA – 1900
- SA – 1400
- ACT – 800
- TAS – 600
- NT – 200
