Blood donations continue to be needed to save lives.
The South African National Blood Service (SANBS) continues to invite members of the public to save the lives of many by donating their blood. According to the service, every donated bag of blood has the potential to save three lives and takes less than 10 minutes to complete once all the necessary paper work and health checks have been done.
One such person who continues to heed the call is Bromhoff Resident Brett Pheiffer who donated his 200th pint of blood at the Northgate branch of the SANBS on October 7.
Pheiffer said that those that do not donate due to fear of pain have very little to worry about and should take comfort in the fact that they are saving lives. “SANBS had a poster and it had a picture of a little baby with text that said their need for your blood is greater than your fear of the needle.”
Both the SANBS and Pheiffer encourage the public to donate blood at their nearest facility.
To be a blood donor one needs to meet the following requirements:
- You are between 16 and 75 years old
- You weigh at least 50 kilograms
- You are in good health
- You lead a low-risk lifestyle
- You consider your blood safe for transfusion
- You have had a balanced meal within four hours of donating blood
- You have not donated blood in the last 56 days.
Additionally, SANBS has stated that vaccinated people can donate blood and that they won’t ask or record whether a donor was vaccinated or not. “We are confident that the currently approved vaccines do not pose a safety risk to blood recipients. We follow international blood collection best practice and act quickly if there is any concern regarding blood product safety or possible harm to our patients.”
For more information on blood donations, please visit the SANBS website sanbs.org.za/
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