There is an urgent call for blood donations this Easter long weekend after supplies have dropped to record low levels.
There is currently only enough supplies of emergency blood type O negative to last one and a half days.
For the first time, Newcastle Blood Donor Centre will open its doors on Good Friday to help boost supplies.
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood spokesperson Jemma Falkenmire said blood donations are at a record low, while the demand for blood is at a record high.
"We have seen an increase for the demand for blood during the pandemic," she said.
"It has been amongst the highest it has been over the last 10 years. We have particularly seen strong demand for O negative which is the emergency blood type. It now makes up around 15 to 16 per cent of all hospital orders."
Only six per cent of the population have an O negative blood type, but it is the most needed across the country.
"It is incredibly difficult for us to get people of O negative blood type to donate because we need so much of it and so many people out there don't know their blood type," Ms Falkenmire said.
"There are new mums and cancer patients as well as emergency and trauma patients that really need it."
Lake Macquarie resident Brian McCarthy knows first-hand the importance of blood donations after he needed more than 4.5 litres of O negative blood last year.
"Without it I would have died, there are no two ways about it," he said.
He was in a motorcycle accident near Bourke and was flown to Orange Hospital in a critical condition with severe internal bleeding.
At 70 years old. he said he didn't expect to need a lifesaving blood donation, but warns that it can happen to anyone.
"I am a little bit older than most people and I am lucky I haven't needed a blood donation up until now but I wouldn't be here if I didn't have it," he said.
"All the people who donate blood in my mind are silent heroes. A lot of people get scared of a little prick in the arm but these donors are saving lives.
"You might be donating blood and it could save your own life. It is like having an insurance policy for yourself in the future. If you have an accident you might need it one day."
Ms Falkenmire said this month is particularly difficult with back-to-back long weekends on both Easter and Anzac Day.
"It is difficult to get people to donate in general and we only have about three per cent of the local population donating," she said.
"The pandemic has sidelined a lot of our blood donors because people have been isolating. We have also recently seen floods impacting some of our blood donors in northern NSW, Queensland and Sydney.
"If you make a donation in Newcastle you are not just helping people in Newcastle. That blood donation can travel to help anyone right across Australia.
"Your donation will help save a life in as little as 48 hours. Once we have done the testing O negative blood goes out the door immediately."
As well as accident and emergency patients, blood will be needed by thousands of people this Easter weekend, including mums giving birth and people undergoing cancer treatment.
More supplies of all blood types is needed across the country.
