City’s firefighters roll up their sleeves for a good cause
IT IS the scene that no emergency service worker wants to see - burns, bones and blood.
But it is the same thing spurring on Toowoomba’s firefighters to roll up their sleeves for a good cause.
The men and women at the Kitchener St station have saved 537 lives with their blood donations last year, on top of the ones they save on the job.
The firefighters have been lauded for their efforts by the Red Cross, who are appealing for members of the public to donate.
“We’re called to attend, all too often, road traffic crashes and structure fires where people are badly burned,” QFES Inspector Peter Bradow said.
“All of those people are affected by the incidents we attend, Red Cross supplies the blood to those people.
“It’s important we encourage the community to step up and donate – we see it too often, the people who have been affected.”
The firefighters posted the sixth-highest level of donations as a group in the Toowoomba region last year, with 179.
“If we can encourage others to step up with what we’re doing, that 500 lives then becomes 5000,” Insp Bradow said.
Blood donations can be made to the Red Cross through their office on Ruthven St during business hours.
For more information about donating blood, call 13 14 95.