The Australian Red Cross Lifeblood organisation is urging students to donate blood as they set up their mobile donation centre at the University of Wollongong between the 4th and 8th of September.
The mobile donation centre can be found outside the UniActive Sports Hub at building 9, donors are welcome to book their times or walk-in at the discretion of available spots. The Mobile centres are a way to encourage the wider community to donate by making it more accessible in order to continue meeting the demand for blood.
Megan Green, Group Manager for Lifeblood commends the donors at the University of Wollongong for rolling up their sleeves.
“1 donation can save 3 lives,” she said,
“So, everyone coming in and saving lives has been absolutely fantastic.”
Whilst 1 donation can go a long way, it’s estimated that 1 donation is needed every 18 seconds to meet the demands for blood in Australia, with 1 in 3 Australians needing blood in their lifetime. However, only 3% of Australians give blood each year.
Ms. Green assures nervous donors that the process is quick, easy and rewarding.
“The team are amazing,” she said,
“We’ve had a lot of first-time donors over the week,
“And everyone’s walked away very happy and painless.”
Life Blood was able to collect over 1,030,000 litres of blood, plasma and platelets in 2022 from 524,258 individual donors, however, more donors are being called upon to give blood to keep up with the ever-increasing demand.
Visit the Lifeblood website to find out how you could donate and save lives.
