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Happy World Blood Donor Day to all those blood donors in our communities, for their selfless generosity and life-saving donations. Meet the transfusion team at our John Hunter Hospital Laboratory.
World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on 14 June. This year’s campaign slogan, “Give blood, give hope: together we save lives,” highlights the life-changing impact blood donors have on those in need.
Every blood donation is a gift of hope. It can mean the difference between life and death for patients in need of transfusions.
Making sure our first responders have access to blood products is the job of NSW Health Pathology’s Transfusion teams, who manage the supply of these precious blood and plasma donations and ensure they get where they are needed.
“Everything stops in the lab once we get these phone calls,” said Caitlin Foster, Acting Senior Medical Laboratory Scientist – Blood Transfusion.
“The ability of our staff to jump into action to get these blood products ready in a timely manner and packed up for the police or aeromedical team is truly remarkable.”
Caitlin has been working at our John Hunter Blood Bank for over 5 years and says it’s an incredibly rewarding role.
“Knowing we are assisting in providing the best patient care, especially in these urgent and often vulnerable moments in the patient’s life is incredibly rewarding,” she said. A big thank you to everyone working with blood products across NSW Health, like the staff pictured here from our John Hunter Transfusion team – Ana, Kelly, Amber, Caitlin and Melissa!
World Blood Donor Day on June 14 is a great reminder of the importance of donated blood and blood products for the treatment of patients across the health system.
If you are able to donate – now is a great time!
If you’d like to roll up your sleeves and donate blood, visit www.lifeblood.com.au, call 13 14 95 or download the Donate Blood app.
Find out more about our transfusion pathology service here: www.pathology.health.nsw.gov.au/services/pathology/transfusion