Did you know that one in four people will need a blood transfusion at some point in their life time? Sadly only about 37% of the population is eligible to give blood but currently only about 10% of the population donate blood annually.
Every donation that the South African National Blood Service receives helps save the lives of thousands of people! With a single donation they can help save three different lives. To put it in perspective; 6 red blood cell units are needed during a single heart surgery, 20 red blood cell units are needed during a liver transplant, 50 red blood cell units for trauma victims and about 8 platelet transfusions a week for a cancer patient.
With the festive season around the corner, emergency services are preparing for what is often a difficult time for blood collections; “If previous years December blood stock levels are anything to go by, we know that we have tough times ahead, and this has a huge impact on patients,” says Vanessa Raju, Brand and Communications manager of the SANBS. South Africans have been asked to make a conscious decision to support this cause in order to make a significant difference and essentially save lives. Anyone who meets the minimum requirements of being a donor is asked to step up and donate blood.
OUTsurance has accepted this challenge and we have donated 1122 units of blood so far this year. That means that more than 3000 lives could be touched by the generous contribution from the OUTsurance employees. The outstanding efforts meant that we just upped our units collected from the previous years which totalled about 1119 units out of which 143 was new donors and about 73% repeated donors.
Blood donations are used for patients undergoing surgical operations, patients with cancer or leukaemia, children with severe anaemia, to women during pregnancy complication, to treat haemorrhage and to accident victims. So don’t let life get in the way of life this festive season, blood cannot be manufactured it is always a gift from someone, you can be that gift!
For more information about where you can donate blood visit the SANBS site.