Brigadier Toni Bushby has seen first-hand how donated blood saves lives.

The emergency nurse has deployed to Kosovo, Timor Leste and Afghanistan in resuscitation and aeromedical evacuation roles.

In her experience, blood products are a life-saver on the battlefield and back home.

“The ability for us to deliver blood at point of wounding has been a critical enabler, particularly when I was doing aeromedical evacuations in Afghanistan,” Brigadier Bushby said.

“Watching that continue when we moved people rearward and ensured they had what they needed to survive until we could evacuate them home, showed just how important donated blood is.”

With the launch of the 2025 Defence Blood Drive on September 1, Brigadier Bushby is encouraging Army personnel to give generously.

She said the drive was more than a health initiative, it gave commanders and soldiers a better understanding of how donations were used on operations and at home.

“Not only is it used day-to-day for life-saving interventions, which could be for our families, friends and community, but it supports research into treatment that could one day benefit them on the battlefield,” she said.

Australian Red Cross Lifeblood chief executive Stephen Cornelissen said the Defence Blood Drive, which began in 2009, was Lifeblood’s longest running.

“I am thrilled to see the life-saving legacy of Defence continue,” Mr Cornelissen said.

“Each year, Defence personnel take their role in supporting our country to a new level, donating much-needed blood and plasma without hesitation. They are role models for our community, and I look forward to seeing what can be achieved this year amid a growing demand for blood and plasma.”

'It doesn’t matter what colour uniform you wear, the fact that we all contribute is meaningful and every donation counts.'

Mobile blood donor units will visit Army bases during the campaign, making it easy for ADF personnel, Australian Public Service staff and contractors to donate.

Sally Deveson, from Lifeblood ACT, said demand was constant.

“We need over 33,000 donations every week, with more than half of those being plasma donations to meet demand across Australia,” she said.

Ms Deveson said a single donation of 470 millilitres of whole blood could be separated into three different products – platelets, plasma and red cells.

Plasma and platelets can be donated every two weeks, while whole blood donations are possible every 12 weeks.

Blood types O and AB are especially important, but all types are needed.

Last year, the Defence Blood Drive gathered enough to help save almost 30,000 Australian lives, with Army contributing 3170 donations – nearly 1490 litres of life-saving blood products.

Brigadier Bushby said she donated regularly and encouraged others to do the same.

“My strong words of encouragement are donate wherever you can, whenever you can,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter what colour uniform you wear, the fact that we all contribute is meaningful and every donation counts.”

The Defence Blood Drive runs until December 8. Visit the Lifeblood website to find a donor centre.