There's an urgent need for 8000 Australians to give blood over the next five days to meet demand over the New Years break.
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Blood products are needed every 18 seconds in Australia and are used for accidents, complicated births, surgeries, cancer treatment and other medical reasons.
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood needs people to donate blood, platelets and plasma.
As many as 24,000 patients would benefit if 1600 people rolled up their sleeves each day until the end of the break.
Lifeblood Executive Director of Donor Services Cath Stone said the service couldn't afford to have a drop off in donations over the long weekend.
"Donating blood takes about an hour but it's a gift that will make a real difference to a patient's life," Ms Stone said.
For the next five days, an extra 600 donors are needed in Victoria, 550 in NSW and 250 in Queensland.
About 80 are needed in South Australia, 70 in the ACT 60 in Tasmania and 10 in the Northern Territory.
Donation centres will remain open over the long weekend.
Australian Associated Press
