Please donate blood!

This morning at a shopping centre near my parent's house I donated blood for the first time. The Paramatta mobile blood collection unit of the Australian Red Cross was there and donating blood was one of those things I always thought to do but had never quite found the time to do it, so I seized the moment.

A small crowd of people were patiently waiting outside the vehicle: some first timers like me, others experienced donors; all filling in the donor questionnaire. One fellow, a regular donor, usually donated as part of a group of 15 blokes and while he was waiting he had been trying to contact his "team" to get them to come in and give blood. After waiting for around 20 minutes I was called up and placed on a reclining couch and hooked up to the machinery. The nurse was pleasant and very expert - they go out of their way to make the process of donation as painless and comfortable as possible. Because I was new it took about an hour of my time. The 470 millilitres (20 for testing and 450 as the donation) I gave will help someone, somewhere, and now that I've taken the plunge I'll do it again.

Constant Reader, I hope, if you have the time and the inclination, you will donate blood too sometime; too many of us don't do it and it helps us all. I was fascinated by the process and the machinery (as usual), and by how painless it was. A small diary I was given at the mobile blood bank informed me that the Federal Government has declared 2009 "Year of the Blood Donor", additionally this year is the 80th anniversary of blood services in Australia.

If you want more information or want to make a booking to donate go to the Australian Red Cross' Donate Blood Service website (http://www.donateblood.com.au/).

Image: © Australian Red Cross, 2008.