A Town & Country Journal reader came into the office recently to express dissatisfaction with having to drive to Toowoomba to donate blood.
This, of course, is not the first time this issue has been raised. Last year, the Lions Club of Stanthorpe held a sausage sizzle to gather signatures to get the blood bank to return to border towns. They started a petition as well.
The reader would be happy to give blood regularly and asked the Toowoomba donor centre when the mobile blood bank would return to the Southern Downs. Apparently, the answer was that it would be too expensive to run a bus for one person. No doubt more than one person would donate blood in the Southern Downs if the blood bank came down.
The Town & Country Journal reached out to the Red Cross/Lifeblood for some answers.
We received a thank you for our interest.
“We’re incredibly grateful to the people in communities like Stanthorpe and Warwick who want to roll up their sleeves and help save lives, “said Belinda Smetioukh, the media manager for Queensland and the Northern Territory.
“Lifeblood understands the frustration of those who are willing to donate but are unable to do so easily due to their location.”
She said that they collect blood at 400 locations across the country, and those locations are routinely reviewed. Belinda added that they receive “hundreds of requests” annually from communities wanting visits from the blood bank.
“While we carefully consider each request, Australia is a vast country, and it’s not possible for us to collect blood everywhere. Decisions about where our mobile services operate are based on a number of factors, including the number of eligible donors available, the ability to collect sufficient donations safely and efficiently, and how best to meet national patient demand.”
Toowoomba, Belinda said, currently has the capacity to collect “all the blood Australia needs.”
This seems an odd statement on many levels, but especially as the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood Facebook site regularly makes urgent calls for blood donations. The site also regularly advertises pop-up donor centres in difference suburbs of Brisbane.
If there is a demand, like during the winter or over Christmas, “we focus on encouraging more people to donate and fill vacant appointments at these centres.”
Blood supply to the Southern Downs is not affected by the lack of blood donations in the shire, Lifeblood reassured.
“We know this may be disappointing for people who would prefer a local mobile service, and we truly appreciate their willingness to help. For those who are able, we’d encourage booking a donation when they are near a centre or when they’re in Toowoomba. There are also other meaningful ways to support the cause, including encouraging others to donate, volunteering with the Australian Red Cross, or registering as an organ donor.”
Lifeblood is “grateful for the ongoing support and passion shown by the Southern Downs community”.
