Katie Blair was sceptical about donating blood.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That was until she had actually done so.
Next time Katie, who works at the Grenfell Pharmacy, donates blood she will be doing so for the 12th time.
When the Red Cross Mobile Blood Bank next visits Grenfell on Thursday, March 28 and again on Thursday, June 27 Katie encourages other Grenfell residents to do so
A previous employer encouraged Katie to donate and made her bet on air, during a radio interview, that the next time he donated she would too.
"I couldn't back out of it then, all of Young had heard me," Katie said.
"I went and have just kept on going since.
"It doesn't heard," she added of the experience.
And how long does it take?
"The quickest I gave blood was four minutes.
"You're in and out in 15 minutes by the time you do the paperwork, it's very quick and not very painful at all," Katie said.
The Blood Bank is experiencing a pleasing increase in the number of under-35’s who are becoming donors for the first time, providing a great boost to the blood collection program throughout NSW
Blood bank volunteer Jim Griffiths said the stand out sector in this increase are the 18 to 22-year-olds as its become “cool” to be a blood donor, which is very encouraging.
Mr Griffiths said the Red Cross Blood Bank is delighted with the positive feedback from donors on the “texting program” to donors after they have made a donation
This program was initiated a couple of years ago, and donors now receive a text on their phones in the days following their donation to tell them where their blood has gone.
"They say it provides a wonderful boost to their human feelings to know they have helped an individual person, or a number of people, it really does provide a great feeling to the donor, especially when you know you have helped a child," Mr Griffiths said.
On going Red Cross Blood Bank research continues to highlight the benefits to the donors body in making a regular donation as the litre of blood they have given is replaced through the normal body functions in the week or so after each donation
Last November, nurses as the Red Cross Mobile Unit’s quarterly visit to Forbes, detected a heart problem with one of their regular donors during the pre-donation checking procedure, resulting in this young man spending time in Sydney and having a possible fatal heart problem attended to and promptly rectified.
He has been back at work since January.
"This highlights the high standard of pre-donation checking of each donor, confirming the Australian Red Cross Blood Banks quality assurance procedures recognised as the best in the world," Mr Griffiths said.
Also making news:
