The public service may be the economic lifeblood of the national capital.
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But it turns out it's literally giving Canberra lifeblood.
A remarkable 55 per cent of all blood donations in the ACT are made by federal, ACT and defence public servants.
That in turn is helping the territory outperform all other parts of the nation in blood donor rates.
Last year 4.9 per cent of all eligible ACT residents made at least one donation of blood, plasma or platelets - the highest of any Australian state or territory.
And 55 per cent of donors worked in the public service.
One of them is Dylan Van Essen, 27, a project manager at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, who spent a chunk of Wednesday afternoon with a needle in his arm.
Mr Van Essen was donating plasma and blood at Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, along with four of his colleagues.
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood's ACT group account manager for donor engagement and experience Sally Deveson said, "I love being a Canberran, what a collective of incredible humans."
Fifty-five per cent of donations came from government employees - federal, ACT and defence - and 3973 donors were first-timers.
Ms Deveson said that last year, the Red Cross collected 69,500 donations - plasma (40,993), blood (27,272) and platelets (1282). Of these donors, 2973 were first-timers.
"Areas with higher levels of education tend to have higher rates of blood donors, and the ACT has some of the highest in the country," Ms Deveson said.
"Curiously enough, ACT donors also have the highest rates of donating in multiple centres and states."
Ms Deveson said 43.8 per cent of total collections were from Lifeblood teams organised by teams champions at their employers who plan, promote and organise donor teams and help recruit new members.
![Red Cross group account manager Sally Deveson, left, AIHW group coordinator, Stirling Lewis with Australian Institute of Health workers Ramdileep Jale, Maddie Howlett and Dylan Van Essen donating blood. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Red Cross group account manager Sally Deveson, left, AIHW group coordinator, Stirling Lewis with Australian Institute of Health workers Ramdileep Jale, Maddie Howlett and Dylan Van Essen donating blood. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/MxhEgQKUJhZgHxwVaKiqcq/8ddd3545-dc78-41af-8350-1acc554afefa.jpg/r0_264_7427_4440_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"The most successful Lifeblood teams have support from the top - sponsor - down, CEO or executive level," Ms Deveson said.
There was strong teams involvement from the Australian Tax Office and other institutions as well as the military.
Teams members get leave to donate.
But while many Canberrans donate blood products, more donations are always needed.
"Australian blood donors are amongst the world's most generous, but demand for plasma - the precious liquid gold part of blood - is the highest it's ever been," Ms Deveson said.
More than 9000 new blood, plasma and platelet donors are needed every month in the coming year to keep up with what is needed by our hospitals. About 250 donations are needed in the ACT every day, including about 150 plasma donations.
Donated blood products are distributed to help people including: cancer patients (34 per cent); people with anaemia (19 per cent); people undergoing heart surgery and severe burns (19 per cent); people with heart, stomach and kidney disease (13 per cent); and trauma patients (2 per cent).
Stirling Lewis, a senior data analyst at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, has been a Lifeblood Team Champion for the last 18 months. In this role he helped organise 244 donations from the institute's employees - 168 of whom are registered donors - in 2023.
"I've been donating blood for years, since I was 18," Mr Lewis, who is 59, said.
"I wanted to do something for the community, to give back."
Mr Lewis has a high platelet count and has donated platelets every two weeks for the past six years.
As a champion he is involved with donors in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. He organise buses for group donations and provides information and support.
There are two donor centres in Canberra - Lifeblood Red Cross House, 3 Dann Close, Garran and Canberra Civic Plasma Donor Centre Lifeblood, 4 Mort Street, Canberra City - and mobile donor centres visit locations around Canberra.
- For more information including collection centres, eligibility, donating as a group and making appointments see: lifeblood.com.au.