CERT-SA (Community Emergency Response Team South Africa) surpassed its donation target this weekend, as 250 donors made their way to Lewende Woord Centurion for the Christmas in July, Naughty and Nice Blood Drive.

The day was filled with tons of entertainment, including abseiling, jumping castles, helicopter fly-bys, and demonstrations by emergency services and K9.

Entry required a tin of non-perishable food, with all food donations going toward the Lewende Woord Food Bank.

Public Relations Officer for CERT-SA, Tanya Nieuwenhuizen, says the main idea behind the drive was to showcase why blood donations are so important. This was the reason for the demonstrations by emergency teams, as loss of blood is something CERT-SA frequently encounters while attending to scenes.

“It’s literally the thing that saves lives on scene; we’ve seen it first-hand. We try to get patients as quickly as possible out of emergencies to the hospital specifically for the transfusions, most of the time when there’s big blood loss. So, we’ve seen all too often the need to keep our blood stocks up,” Nieuwenhuizen says.

Over 40 organisations were involved in the drive, including three different SAPS stations, private security companies, various CPFs, and several other private ambulance services. These are partners CERT-SA frequently encounters while responding to various emergencies.

Following the drive, CERT-SA is looking forward to their Heritage Day project coming up soon, as well as their Christmas drives that they carry out across the greater area of Centurion that they service.

Watch here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1F314D3ioH/

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