Young blood sought in city-wide donor drive

To maintain a stable blood supply, the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) launches various promotional campaigns from time to time to attract and recruit more donors especially with the aim of making blood donation a way of life for young generation.

Donate blood all week long @ West Kowloon Donor Centre

Donors at the West Kowloon Donor Centre enjoy panoramic views across Victoria Harbour in a relax mood during and after giving blood.

Extending its services since November this year, the BTS’s West Kowloon Donor Centre now opens all week long including Sundays, from 9:30am to 6pm. Both whole blood donation and apheresis donations (platelet and plasma) are accepted on Sundays.

Lessons in giving blood

Most donors had their first blood donation at school. Peer support can prompt them to become a regular donor.

BTS staff use advanced equipment to detect the condition of blood vessels and students can try to search the blood vessels themselves. Like having an interactive class in biology and liberal studies, it is fun.

To encourage more young people to give blood, the BTS has launched a Blood Donation Experience Tour in secondary schools since September this year. BTS staff visit schools and explain to students how they can become a blood donor, addressing their worries and misunderstandings.

Collecting blood on the go

The new Medicoach will make donors more comfortable.

Being a pioneer of mobile donation in Asia, the BTS introduced a mobile donation vehicle in the 1970s. The Medicoach has been in service for nearly 15 years and the new one is now being assembled. It has a built-in generator, which allows the vehicle to operate independently without any external power source. The new vehicle will travel around the city and encourage more people to give blood at their convenience in mid-2019.