It's never to late, or too early, to decide to start donating blood or plasma.
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Tamworth blood and plasma donor, Les Fulcher, says any time is the right time.
"You could be helping to save the life of somebody close to you or somebody you may never have met," he said.
"I say to people 'think about your family and friends and yourself - there may be a day when somebody needs the plasma."
That makes him a familiar face to the staff at the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood donation centre in Tamworth, including centre service officer Michelle Walker-Tredrea.
Both are keen supporters for blood and plasma donations and the work of Lifeblood.
Blood donations began in Tamworth during the early 1960s, and thousands of locals have rolled up their sleeves to help another in that time.
When collections started, people headed for Tamworth hospital, and for more than 50 years, that's where the Tamworth donation centre was located.
Mrs Walker-Tredrea said a growing use of plasma triggered a need for the Tamworth service to grow, relocating to a new $1.5 million centre, on Ringer's Road in September 2012, with a shift of focus on collection of what is known as liquid gold, or plasma.
Liquid gold
Australian donors were amongst the world's most generous, but Mrs Walker-Tredrea said demand for plasma was the highest it had ever been.
"With demand soaring, more than 9000 new plasma donors Australia-wide are needed every month in the coming year to keep up with hospital demand," she said.
"Around 2500 plasma transfusions and medications are sent to patients across the state every day."
Mrs Walker-Tredrea said plasma was so precious because it contained dozens of antibodies and proteins that could not be replicated inside the lab.
"More than 50 serious medical conditions are now reliant on plasma as part of treatment - it helps people with compromised immune systems to prevent diseases and infections," she said.
"Plasma has proteins that can help stop blood loss, is used in complex heart surgery, and to treat brain disorders.
"Cancer patients often rely on plasma and plasma medicines during treatment, and it is even the source of Anti-D which prevents life-threatening complications in pregnancy for women who have a negative blood type."
Unlike an accident or trauma situation, Mrs Walker-Tredrea said it could take up to 15 plasma donations to make a single dose of some plasma medicines, and many patients would rely on them regularly for years.
"Demand is climbing because it is being used to treat more conditions and patients, due to a growing population," she said.
What happens at Tamworth
To ensure Tamworth can provide its share of the state's blood and plasma donations, the local donor centre needs about 160 plasma donations a week.
"Locally, about one per cent of the population donate regularly, and they supply about 60pc of all donations collected in Tamworth," Mrs Walker-Tredrea said.
She said the Tamworth donor centre needed new plasma donors, and encouraged those donors who already gave, to make "just one or two more donations" each year.
Where does the blood go?
A spokesperson for Australian Red Cross Lifeblood said blood donations in NSW were collected and sent to a testing and processing centre in Sydney, where they are separated into the different parts, or blood products, a patient might need.
"The donation is also tested for a whole lot of things, and usually within about 24 hours of collection it's ready to go to a hospital," the spokesperson said.
"There's a team who work around the clock dispatching orders across the state as they come in, and each hospital will usually hold it's own inventory.
"The average bag of blood and plasma travels more than 300 kilometres, and some donations might be sent to a patient in another state - we do move blood around if certain states need more support at certain times."
The spokesperson said Lifeblood worked closely with hospitals to forecast how much blood was needed, to ensure supplies were on hand.
"In NSW, we send out around 1000 bags of blood and platelets every day across the state, and about 1500 plasma medicines and transfusions," the spokesperson said.
"We even drill down to what blood types they need and type of donation - that does go up and down daily, but we have a good idea.
"So each donor centre around the state has a target of how much blood they need to collect so we can meet that need."
Blood donation facts
The spokesperson said one in three Australians would need blood or blood products in their lifetime, but only one in 30 people donated.
"One blood donation can save up to three lives, and one blood donation was needed every 24 seconds," the spokesperson said.
"Australia needs about 33,000 donations every week to meet demand."
Who can donate?
If you're unsure if you're eligible to donate, Mrs Walker-Tredrea said there was a quick 60 second eligibility quiz on Lifeblood's website.
"You can also find your nearest donation centre on the website, and book in a time to donate," she said.
Donating plasma is similar to a blood donation, except it takes a little longer, and only the plasma part of your blood is collected.
Mrs Walker-Tredrea said this meant donating plasma could be done much more frequently than regular blood donations.
Never too late
With such experience of the donation process, Mr Fulcher said while you could only donate blood every 12 weeks, you could give plasma every two weeks.
"Start young enough and you could help thousands of people with your donations," he said.
"The mind boggles - there is always a shortage, always appeals for donations.
"It's never too late to start helping somebody."
Mr Fulcher sad there was no limit on how long and to what age you could donate to, so long as you were healthy.
