A pint for a pint
Blood donors at the Sanbs receive a Coke for their blood.
Netcare Krugersdorp Hospital held a blood drive to ensure that some of the strain on the South African National Blood Service (Sanbs) is relieved.
Their theme was ‘A pint for a pint’ and each donor received a buddy Coke in return for their pint of blood. Members of the public, employees, nurses and even doctors donated some of their red gold on Thursday, 16 November. Sanbs is preparing for the holiday season and with supplies for only 1,8 days of O– blood in stock, the service will take enormous strain if people don’t donate soon.
Photo: Bianca Pindral
“Compared to the healthy blood stock of 5 000 units or supplies for five days, these numbers show that supply is dangerously low,” said Silungile Mlambo, national marketing manager for the Sanbs.
“The situation is reaching a critical level and we appeal to all South Africans – active donors, lapsed donors and potential donors – to donate blood to bolster the national blood stock.”
Here are some interesting facts about blood donation:
1. Donating a unit of whole blood can assist in saving three lives, as the blood can be processed into 3 components, namely red cells, platelets and plasma. It takes about 30 minutes to donate one unit of blood.
2. Platelet donations play a vital role in blood clotting and the prevention of excessive bleeding. The blood is processed through a cell separator, which retains the platelets and returns the other blood components to the donor’s system. This procedure enables people to donate platelets every month. Platelet donation is a simple process that takes about 90 minutes to complete.
3. Plasma donation is a similar process to platelet donation, and also takes about 90 minutes. The blood is processed through a cell separating machine that filters out the plasma and returns the red cells and other cellular components to the donor’s system. Plasma can be donated every 2 weeks where possible.
4. Other specialised donations include autologous donations – where you donate your blood to yourself before a pre-planned surgery, and designated donation – where your family and friends donate blood for you. Please contact the Sanbs call centre for more information as these are specialised donations.
For more information, visit Sanbs’ webpage at https://sanbs.org.za/.
Local donor centres:
• Krugersdorp Donor Centre, 244 Voortrekker Road, Anthos Shopping Centre (Monument Checkers), 011 954 0229
• Westgate Donor centre, Westgate Shopping Centre, Westgate Road, Roodepoort, 011 768 0283
• Florida Donor Centre, 31 Beacon Road, Roodepoort, 011 670 8600
You can also send an email to customerservice@sanbs.org.za with your query.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at krugersdorpnews@caxton.co.za or phone us on 011 955 1130.
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