Australian Red Cross Blood Service

There are many reasons to give blood. Everyone has surely heard the simple fact that your blood donation can help save up to 3 peoples lives. Its an amazing and inexpensive opportunity to help people with great benefits. In order to ensure blood supplies are safe, all blood donations are tested for blood type, Rh groups and red-cell anti-bodies. Each time you donate, the blood is also tested for the following five infectious diseases are tested for using seven different tests:

• HIV/AIDS
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis C
• Human T-cell Lymphtropic virus HTLV
• Syphilis

How Your Blood Helps People?

• 34% Cancer and blood diseases
• 19% Other courses of anaemia
• 18% Surgical patients including open heart surgery and burns
• 13% Other medical problems including heart, stomach, and kidney disease
• 10% Orthopaedic patients including fractures and joints replacements
• 4% Obstetrics inlcuding pregnant women, new mothers and young children
• 2% Trauma including road accidents

Plasma and Platelets

• Plasma is used to make up to 17 different products containing useful proteins, nutrients and other clotting factors.
• Platelets are extremely valuable to surgical cancer patients to help clot the blood and seal wounds. This is important because of how damaging Leukemia and Chemotherapy treatments can reduce a patients platelet count.
  

Please visit www.donateblood.com.au

Or for more information phone 13 14 95