When the big red van rolls into town, many Gloucester residents know it’s time to roll up their sleeves and donate.
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Every three months, the Red Cross Blood Service Donor Mobile Unit (DMU) comes to Gloucester to collect a vital resource - whole blood and more recently, plasma.
Blood service spokesperson Jemma Falkenmire said they are always in need of red cells from whole blood as there’s simply no replacement for them and they are critical in emergency situations.
“But our need for plasma is fast approaching (and expected to overtake) that demand,” she said.
“The Hunter mobile blood service was chosen as one of the State’s top mobile blood services, supported locally by an army of 150 Gloucester lifesavers,” she explained.
Essentially, many new medical technologies use plasma, as well as 18 different lifesaving treatments, and that is growing nationally by 10 per cent each year.
A plasma donation is a little different from a whole blood donation, which simply removes around half a litre of blood.
Plasma is the golden-part of the blood and containing sugars, fats, proteins and clotting agents, which is removed from the whole blood.
The plasma machine draws 280 millilitres of blood, spins it in to remove the plasma, then returns the remainder back to the body.
The amount taken for each donation is based on the height, weight and gender of the donor, which is plugged into a program at determine the percentage of Total Blood Volume (TBV) that is safe to take.
It takes around one hour from arrival to finish, with roughly 45 minutes of actual donation time, however donors are able to give every two weeks compared to the 12 week turn-around for whole blood.
Whole blood and plasma donations have different requirements, as one contains cells and the other doesn’t, so people who are turned away for whole blood may still be able to donate plasma.
The van comes to town for two days, starting donations in the afternoon of the first day and finishing halfway through the second.
During the recent visit, nurse in charge Donna Treseder said that Gloucester is very supportive, but they can always use more donors.
“It’s vital for the blood van to keep coming to country towns like Gloucester,” she said.
Without a continual flow of new and return donors, services to regional areas can get cut.
Appointments can be pre-booked by calling 13 14 95 or simply by dropping by when you see the big red van parked in the council car park on Billabong Lane at the end of King Street.