Blood Donation Facts

Blood donation is the act where a healthy person voluntarily has blood drawn from his/her body. It is important that the person who is donating blood is in a healthy state, as any diseased state always affects the blood, which could make the condition contagious.

Most donors donate blood as an act of charity for the community, although in some instances, the person may be paid to donate blood. Although the method and amount of blood drawn varies from place to place, normally 450 milliliters of whole blood is drawn at a time.

The problem with donation is that whole blood has a relatively short shelf life, due to which there is need for constant fresh supply. Given below are some more blood donation facts that will act as an eye-opener.

Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood.
Only 3% of eligible donors across the United States donate blood, while the requirement for transfusions is increasing every year.
More than 36,000 blood donations are needed on a daily basis.
One out of every ten hospital admissions require blood transfusion as a part of the treatment.

The blood type most often requested by hospitals is Type O.
More than one million people are diagnosed with cancer each year, most of whom will need blood transfusion during chemotherapy treatment. The actual process of blood donation does not take more than ten minutes.

The entire process, right from signing in till the time you leave could take up to an hour. One car accident victim alone can require up to 100 units of blood.
One donation can help save the lives of up to three people.

• The person wishing to donate blood must be at least 17 years of age, must weigh more than 110 pounds and should be in good enough health to donate blood.
• A healthy donor can donate blood every fifty-six days.

• Less than 40% of the U.S. population is actually eligible for blood donation.
• Maximum shortage of blood supply occurs during the summer and winter holidays.
• Most donated red blood cells must be used within 42 days of collection.

The most common reason that people give for donating blood is because they 'want to help others'. The most common reasons why people do not donate blood is because they 'never gave it a thought' or because they are 'scared of needles'.

If you begin donating blood at the age of seventeen years and regularly donated every 56 days (as is the maximum allowed frequency), then, by the time you reached 76 years of age, you would have donated 48 gallons of blood, potentially saving over a thousand lives! In the Red Cross, the ratio of male to female donors is 1:1.

People with blood type O Rh negative are said to be universal donors, as their blood can be transfused into the body of any person. Only 7% of the U.S. population have the blood type O Rh negative.

Type O Rh negative is often used in cases where the patient is admitted in an unconscious state, or where the blood type of the person is not known and the patient cannot wait till the blood test results come out.

These were a few facts about blood donation. Hopefully these facts have acted as an eye opener for you about the need for blood in hospitals. At the end of the day, the rarest blood type is not O Rh negative or AB Rh negative, but is the one that is not on the shelf when it's needed by a patient.