Blood Types and Facts

Blood Types

O-, O+ 
Patients with any blood type can receive O negative blood. Type O blood is required and must be available in inventory for newborn babies and emergency patients. O+ is the most frequently occurring blood type and is found in 37 percent of the population. O- is found in six percent of the population.

A+ 
This blood is the second most frequently occurring blood type. Thirty-four of every 100 people have A+.

A-, B+, B- 
Less than 10 percent of the population have these rare blood types.

AB+, AB- 
These blood types are the universal donor of plasma. Patients with any blood type can receive this plasma. Only four percent of the population has AB+ and just one in every hundred people have AB-.

Facts About Blood

• Anyone in good health, at least 17 years old, and at least 110 pounds may donate blood every 56 days, or every two months.
• Each year more than 4.5 million lives are saved by blood transfusions.
• About one in five people admitted to the hospital will need blood.
• Up to three: the number of patients that can be treated with one pint of donated blood.
• There is no substitute for human blood.
• 50 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood -- only 5 percent do.
• Cancer, trauma patients, and those undergoing open-heart surgery require platelet transfusions to survive.
• Blood makes up about 7 percent of your body's weight.
• A newborn baby has about one cup of blood in his body.
• The actual blood donation usually takes less than 15 minutes. The entire process -- from the time you sign in to the time you leave -- takes about an hour.
• You cannot get AIDS or any other infectious disease by donating blood.
• Thirteen tests (11 for infectious diseases) are performed on each unit of donated blood.