21 hours Ago By Steve Evans
The Governor-General appealed to other Australians to give blood as she gave blood herself at the Garran Donor Centre next to Canberra Hospital. or signup to continue reading "I'm here this morning to support the Lifeblood campaign for all Australians to donate blood," Sam Mostyn said. "With Cyclone Alfred, it meant the closure of a number of vital, donation centres across Queensland.
And we need 800 Australians for the next few weeks to donate blood to make up for the shortfall of the thousands of appointments that had to be cancelled because of the cyclone. "So I'm here today to donate blood to encourage all Australians to to support Lifeblood and to support all Australians who will need your blood in the coming days." Australian Red Cross Lifeblood said that "a major boost in donations is urgently needed now to ensure blood continues to be available for patients in need".
The organisation's head, Stuart Chesneau, said Lifeblood particularly wanted to replenish stocks of platelets, which are made from blood donations and have a shelf-life of just five days after they're taken. Platelets are part of the blood and are used to control bleeding. They are needed by people surviving surgery.
"We pre-emptively sent extra supplies of blood products, including platelets, to hospitals in the impacted region ahead of Alfred landing, but many of those platelets are now close to expiring," the Lifeblood head said. Lifeblood said it had to cancel 3500 appointments with the closure of 22 donor centres in Queensland and northern NSW from Thursday to Sunday. A further 330 appointments were to be cancelled earlier this week.
Lifeblood said 4000 bags of blood were needed by Australian hospitals every day to help patients in life-threatening situations. Lifeblood had reopened most donor centres in Queensland, but it was not expecting blood collections in the state to return to normal for some time. Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times.
He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues." Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times.
He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues." DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team.
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