Three months on: December donors called to return to Lifeblood

THREE months after Australian’s answered the call for blood, first-time donors will soon be eligible to donate again.

In the aftermath of the December Bondi Beach attack, almost 170 additional blood donations were made at Lifeblood Geelong, including 79 first-time donors.

While Torquay’s mobile donor centre was booked out and turning away walk-ins from the carpark.

It was an uptick seen across the country with close to 50,000 donations received in one week, up from the average of 33,000.

As those donors approach re-eligibility they are asked to continue saving lives.

Lifeblood Geelong relationship manager, Ashbyi Randall, said making blood donation part of people’s routine is essential to meet demand and she encouraged everyone to roll up their sleeves.

“We really don’t want you just to have it as a bucket list item where you tick it and then it’s done,” Randall said.

“We really need people stepping up, making blood donation part of who they are and part of their routine in life.”

Randall said Geelong had a huge community response to the December attack, a pattern she has seen repeatedly from the community in times of need.

“We do have a great response from the community coming in and showing up and wanting to help and show their support,” she said.

Right now, Geelong has a high need for plasma, which can be donated more frequently than blood.

Researchers continue to develop new ways of using plasma and Australia is the second largest user of the blood component in the world.

“The demand for plasma is going up, we use a lot of it. We need 16, 000 plasma donations every single week to keep up with demand,” Randall said.

For people looking for ways to help encourage others to donate, Randall encouraged them to start a team.

Friend and family groups, workplaces and recreation clubs are all welcomed to create teams where they can track their donations and see how many lives they’ve saved.

The Geelong Lifeblood donor centre is open seven days a week, including before and after normal working hours. Surf Coast residents can also donate at the mobile centre in Torquay on selected dates.

It takes just an hour to donate blood and 90 minutes to donate plasma.

“It’s a really great feeling when you donate because you know you are literally changing and saving people’s lives,” Randall said.

Donor eligibility is constantly being updated to ensure more people can donate. For more information, head to the Lifeblood website.