The senior detective was taken to St Vincent's Hospital on Friday afternoon in a critical condition where he underwent emergency surgery and needed up to 30 blood transfusions.

Det Sgt Breda was stabbed twice by accused sex offender Nick Newman, 33, during a violent confrontation in the Maroubra Junction Hotel's beer garden in the city's east as police tried to arrest him.

Newman stabbed Det Sgt Breda in the chest and in the stomach before being fatally shot by two other officers.

On Wednesday, members of the NSW Police Force and the NSW Police Association donated blood in Sydney as part of Bleed4Blue, a new campaign to highlight the need for blood donations following last week's incident.

Acting Commissioner Dave Hudson challenged each state in Australia to get on board during February.

"We are already part of an annual emergency services blood challenge and we thought this would be a great way to remind people about the importance of donating blood," Acting Commissioner Hudson said in a statement.

The state's police commissioner Mick Fuller said the senior detective was making a miraculous recovery after visiting him in hospital on Tuesday.

"He is a lucky man, but in saying that, he was incredibly fit, he was incredibly strong mentally, and the doctors put that down to one of the key reasons that he survived such a horrific attack," Mr Fuller told reporters.

Mr Fuller said he is looking forward to Det Sgt Breda's return to the police force.

Medical staff will start Mr Breda's rehab by transferring him from a bed to a chair in an attempt to increase his mobility.

In Australia, roughly nine million Australians are eligible to give blood, but only about 500,000 actively donate.

With one in three Australians needing blood some time in their life, the Blood Service is looking for an extra 2000 blood donors from New South Wales.