In observance of World Blood Donor Day today, the Saint Lucia Blood Bank has heightened the appeal for donations to help replenish its constantly depleting blood supply.

Medical Technologist at the Saint Lucia Blood Bank, Karen Louis, explained the procedure a donor goes through before blood can be accepted.

Giving blood is safe, simple, and it saves lives. We've coined the term '3S'. When you come in, we make note of your name, age, and date of birth. Then we check to see if you have enough blood to give. We slightly prick your finger, take a drop of blood and drop it in our solution. If it sinks to the bottom in 10 seconds or less that means you're eligible to become a  blood donor. Then we go into the most crucial part - the interview, where we ask a few questions about your health and lifestyle. We need to get an overall picture of the blood donor. If you're accepted then we go into the fun part which is when you save a life. You sit in a chair surrounded by professional staff in a clean, well-ventilated environment, and we withdraw a unit of blood."

The Blood Bank hopes to motivate those who have never donated blood.

"If someone donates blood from age 17 -70, one would have donated 159 times,' louis said. "These units of blood separated into three components could actually save 477 lives. The need for blood is year-round. and we definitely encourage Saint Lucians to donate especially during this time. Carnival is coming up and this is our low period. So we want persons to deposit their gift of life before the Carnival festivities. We need to ensure that we have all blood types so that if the situation arises we have an adequate, safe blood supply to provide to patients in need."

World Blood Donor Day was established in 2004 and serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank blood donors for their voluntary life saving gifts of blood.

This year's theme is "Blood Connects Us All: Share Life, Give Blood."