Nearly 20,000 blood donations last year

About 2,800 people donated blood for the first time last year, a slight drop when compared to the estimated 2,940 first-time donors in 2008, according to official figures.

Just over 19,500 people donated blood in 2009, a drop of about 900 donors over 2008, Alex Aquilina, head of the National Blood Transfusion Service, said.

Dr Aquilina explained that 2008 was a record year in terms of new and regular blood donors. In fact, last year's figures show there were 145 fewer first-time donors.

Last year, the blood bank did not suffer from a shortage "crisis" for two main reasons, as it had in previous years. "The number of donors remained consistent but also, great care was taken not to waste blood," Dr Aquilina.

Over the years, the number of male donors remained consistently higher compared to female donors - with 9,432 men compared to 5,188 women in 2009.

The process that has to be followed for every blood bag, from donation stage, costs about €100. Around one pint of blood, almost 450ml, is extracted each time and split into three products: plasma, platelets and red blood cells concentrate. This means each donor helps three different patients.