History of blood services - 2000 to today

As demand for blood products continues to rise, with ever-evolving new and exciting uses for blood, so too does the constant need for blood donors.

Picture: Today's state-of-the-art donor centres.

Nucleic Acid Testing for HIV and Hepatitis C adds an extra level of safety to the Australian blood supply.

Australian Red Cross Blood Service provides emergency blood supplies to Australians injured in the Bali nightclub bombing.

-The annual number of blood donations by Australians breaks the one million mark for the first time.

Picture: New South Wales donor James Harrison enters the Guinness Book of World Records for the most blood donations after clocking up his 804th donation.

James is part of the Blood Service’s Rh Antibody Project aimed at preventing haemolytic disease in newborn babies. Rh Negative donors, like James, give plasma every two weeks to produce Rh (D) Immunoglobulin (Anti-D). This helps to protect mothers at risk from the disease, caused by an incompatibility between their blood and that of their baby.

Year of the Blood Donor celebrated 80 years of Red Cross blood services in Australia.