Out of 200 local donation teams, Red Cross has revealed Dubbo Police Station was the top donor of blood and plasma in 2022.
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Lifeblood spokesperson Brian Bruce was at the station on Tuesday to present police with a memento to honour their efforts.
He said businesses, community groups, sporting groups, health workers and emergency service workers from Dubbo gave 2516 donations, which helped save 7548 lives.
The NSW Police Force was the most generous followed by Dubbo Regional Council, Quinn's Quest and Dubbo Hospital.
Orana Mid-Western Police District commander, Superintendent Danny Sullivan is terrified of needles yet still managed to donate blood every three months last year. He said the station was "humbled" to be part of the cause.
"The outcome and the cause is far more important than the individual, and this is all about community," he said.
"Service above self."
Supt Sullivan wanted to give a shout out to Senior Constable Martin Pace, who motivated the employees to donate blood. He was also proud of Acting Sergeant Ian Hobden's generosity, the officer who made the most donations from the team.
A former trypanophobic, Acting Sgt Hobden has donated about 20 litres of plasma at LifeBlood Dubbo. He said the team there looked after people "really well" and it was a nice place to be.
"I [feared needles] initially but after 44 times of being jabbed in the arm you tend to get use to it. They're a great team, you go in there, they're always happy to see you, they know me by name now," he said.
He aimed to do 22 plasma donations in 2022 and was happy to report that he was able to schedule 23 donations despite travelling for work, catching Covid and the flu.
"I had done 22 donations in about five years. I decided the next year I was going to try and double the donations that I had given overall. It was looking a bit shaky early on... but I did 22 just before Christmas and another donation just before new year's," Acting Sgt Hobden said.
The officer wanted the community to take the opportunity to help someone with "something you can give so easily".
"Other than a tiny little pinch, it's painless, you go in there, you spend 10 minutes for whole blood or up to an hour for plasma and you watch some TV," he said.
Lifeblood's Brian Bruce was deeply grateful for the police support for their cause throughout the year.
"They support us during Bleed4Blue, they support us during Emergency Services Challenge, whenever we put the call out, they normally pop into the donor centre. It's brilliant," Mr Bruce said.
Their Dubbo centre is putting another call out in the community for people with A and O blood types, to come forward to donate on this Thursday's public holiday.
Lifeblood will be open on January 26 as they are still 20 donations short for this month.
To donate blood or plasma, contact 13 14 95 or visit www.lifeblood.com.au
Bageshri Savyasachi
I am a health and general reporter with an interest transparency, trends, crime and issues that affect Canberra's diverse communities. Contact me at bageshri.s@canberratimes.com.au or send confidential tips to bageshri.s@proton.me
I am a health and general reporter with an interest transparency, trends, crime and issues that affect Canberra's diverse communities. Contact me at bageshri.s@canberratimes.com.au or send confidential tips to bageshri.s@proton.me
