THE Bunbury Blood Donor Centre has opened up extra donation appointments this month after a sudden spike in demand due to the debilitating winter flu season.
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service yesterday activated its Blood Signal – a digital signal appealing for donors – for the first time in almost two years.
Nationally, the blood service is running low across all major blood groups, but stocks of O Negative and O Positive are of particular concern with less than three days’ supply of each.
“O Negative is the universal blood type that can be given to anyone in an emergency, and O Positive is the most common blood type in the country - more than 40 per cent of Australians would need O Positive blood in the event of a transfusion,” Blood Service spokesman Shaun Inguanzo said.
“The problem is that up to 1000 donors a week are cancelling their donations due to cold and flu symptoms, and to make matters worse, we’ve had a recent spike in demand for blood.”
Mr Inguanzo said the organisation would now activate its Blood Signal on social media – one of the quickest and most effective ways of reaching new donors.
“The Blood Signal means that we need donors now,” he said.
To learn more about the Blood Signal, visit bloodsignal.com.au and to book an appointment to give blood call 13 14 95.