What is a blood donation? Blood that's taken straight from a donor. After it's donated, we usually separate blood into red blood cells, plasma and platelets in our labs. Red blood cells only last 42 days from when they’re donated. Australia needs over 1.7 million donations every year to meet demand: that's three every minute. Did you know one blood donation can save up to three lives? Just think about how many lives you could change by coming back for more.