Ground-breaking first-ever New Zealand mobile plasma collection blood drive comes to Henderson

West Auckland will play host to New Zealand’s first ever mobile plasma blood drive this week as New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) ramps up plasma donation accessibility around the country ahead of surging demand. 

After months of planning, the event in Henderson will allow 150 whole blood donors who meet the plasma eligibility criteria to give plasma at a mobile drive for the very first time, one of several exciting steps that will see increased plasma collections in Auckland and other New Zealand regions.   

“The need for more plasma donors, and for more donations from existing plasma donors, is very real,” says Asuka Burge, NZBS National Manager, Marketing and Communications. “By July 2021, we will require an additional 7,000 registered plasma donors, as demand increases 12 percent year on year. Soon, New Zealand will require more plasma donations than whole blood donations.”  

“Up until now, we were only able to collect plasma donations at one of our nine fixed-site donor centres.

“Our mobile plasma drives will open up plasma donations to a whole new group of people who have been unable to get to a donor centre to donate.  Although, there are still limitations where a mobile plasma blood drive can visit, as we need to keep within commuting distance of a processing centre to ensure the plasma can be processed at the end of each collection day. 

“Planning for our new mobile plasma drive has required extensive coordination in the wake of COVID-19, as well as acquiring additional apheresis machines required for plasma donation, and ensuring our mobile teams have specialist plasma collection expertise.” 

150 units of plasma are expected to be collected from the mobile drive over the week, and will be delivered to the Epsom donor centre at the end of each day. Each unit with then be manufactured into one of eleven lifesaving products. All donors were pre-screened to meet the plasma eligibility criteria and spoken to a member of NZBS staff to assess suitability.  

Appointments at the first mobile drive have been filled by whole blood donors who live in the local area and were willing and keen to switch to plasma donation.  

The first to donate will be Sophie Wakely, who has been donating at Henderson whole blood mobile drives for over ten years, “I’ve been donating whole blood since I was sixteen”, says the 28-year-old. “I got an email asking if I was able to switch over to plasma, and thought hell yeah! Any chance I can get, I’ll be there to help.” 

The Henderson drive is the first of four mobile plasma blood drives in Auckland. There are also plans to extend mobile plasma blood drives to other regions in the country, including Canterbury, Wellington, Wairarapa and Waikato over the next 12 months.  

The mobile plasma drive will be returning to Henderson on the 19^th October, and bookings are already half-filled. NZBS also has three additional plasma drives planned in Auckland in Pukekohe, Albany and Howick for the incoming weeks.  

Upcoming Auckland dates include: 

• • 9 -13 October Pukekohe Franklin Baptist Church 128 Victoria Street West 
  • 19 -23 October Henderson Trust Arena  
  • 27-30 October, Albany North Harbour Stadium  
  • Pakuranga/Howick TBC for the week of 2 November 2020 

The first mobile drive will take place at the Henderson Trust Arena from 13:00 to 19:00 today through Thursday September 24, and from 8:00 to 13:30 on Friday September 25.  

More information on donating plasma

Sign up to become a plasma donor

About NZBS: 

New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) is a not-for-profit Crown entity responsible for the collection, processing, testing and storage and distribution of all blood and blood products in New Zealand. 

NZBS relies on voluntary and non-remunerated blood donations from individuals around the country in order to provide a constant supply of precious blood and blood products used by health services to save thousands of lives. 

What is plasma? 

Plasma is the straw-coloured ‘liquid gold’ component of blood that makes up just over half our blood. It can be used to create up to 11 blood products that help people who have lost a lot of blood through trauma, accident or surgery, those going through chemotherapy, and people with low levels of antibodies. Plasma is also instrumental in controlling autoimmune disorders, and providing special clotting factor concentrates for people with bleeding disorders. 

How is plasma collected? 

Plasma is obtained through apheresis – blood is temporarily taken from the vein and put through a machine which separates the plasma, before returning the red blood cells to the donor. The process takes around 90 minutes, and collects up to three times the usual volume of plasma, then can be removed in a single whole blood donation. Plasma taken in blood donation are more easily replaced by the donor than red blood cells, and larger quantities can be taken because red blood cells are returned to the donor. 

Why do we need more plasma? 

The rise in plasma demand is primarily due to the increased need for immunoglobulin products, also known as Ig, such as Intragam P and Evogam. Ig products are concentrated solutions of antibodies – natural proteins present in blood that are essential for stopping infection. IVIg products are used to treat people with low levels of antibodies, either hereditary or through illness such as infections, and by cancers of the white blood cells and bone marrow. It’s also used to treat some autoimmune disorders. 

How can I donate plasma? 

Make an appointment at any one of the NZBS donor centres to find out if you are eligible to donate. To become a plasma donor, donors must meet plasma eligibility criteria. This includes meeting height and weight criteria, and having good veins. 

For more information please contact: 

Asuka Burge – New Zealand Blood Service
(09) 523 6486, 027 272 6437    
Asuka.burge@nzblood.co.nz 

Sandy Trigg – Network Communication
(09) 306 5811, 021 231 9406 
Sandy.trigg@networkcommunication.co.nz 

Released on behalf of New Zealand Blood Service by Network Communication