World Blood Donor Day

The best way to celebrate World Blood Donor Day is to go out and give blood. There's a powerful need for blood of all types, and there's rarely enough of it to go around. Just a single contribution now and then will help save lives, so get on out there and give.

Finding a clinic in your local area is surprisingly easy. Usually, teams of medics will set up donor rooms where you can go to give blood with other volunteers. Before you donate, you'll need to take a quiz to see if you qualify. After that, a nurse will test your blood to ensure that it is safe to withdraw a large quantity. Then, they will place a needle in your arm and remove around a pint.

If you can't give blood for whatever reason, that doesn't prevent you from taking part in World Blood Donor Day. There are still plenty of things that you can do. You could, for instance, mark the occasion by updating your social media profile pictures to celebrate the event.

Symbols and images can have a massive impact. If you live in an area that requires more blood, you could also go out canvassing on behalf of your local blood donation group. Often something as simple as posting leaflets through the doors of those in the local community can encourage people to come forward.

World Blood Donor Day is, therefore, one of the most important public health events in the calendar. It affirms the hard work of those early blood transfusion pioneers and encourages people to get out and give.