Blood Types & Compatibility
This blood type is known as the "universal donor" for red blood cells.
What is Type O-negative?
This is the most common type of donation, taking about 8-10 minutes for the actual blood draw.
What is a whole blood donation?
You must wait at least 56 days between donations of this most common type.
What is whole blood?
A single car accident victim may require as many as 100 of these blood volume units.
What are units of red blood cells?
The Red Cross blood program was founded during this global conflict in the 1940s.
What is World War II?
This blood type is known as the "universal recipient" for red blood cells.
What is Type AB-positive?
During this type of donation, a machine returns your platelets and plasma to you while keeping your red cells.
What is a Power Red (double red cell) donation?
Due to malaria risk, you may be deferred for three years after traveling to certain regions of this continent.
What is Africa?
This blood component, rich in clotting factors, is often needed by burn and shock patients.
What is plasma?
This founder of the Red Cross also started its first U.S. blood collection program during WWI.
Who was Clara Barton?
A person with type B blood can receive donations from these two blood types.
What are Types B and O?
The minimum weight in pounds required to donate blood for most individuals.
What is 110 pounds?
You must be at least this many years old to donate in most states (with parental consent in some).
What is 16 or 17 (depending on state)?
Cancer patients are frequent recipients of these cell fragments that help with clotting.
What are platelets?
The discovery of this disease in the 1970s led to safer blood transfusions
What is Hepatitus B (or C)?
What is your blood type?
A+/-,B+/-,O+/-,AB+/-
This is the approximate volume, in milliliters, of blood collected during a whole blood donation.
What is 500 mL (or about a pint)?
A common 24-hour deferral is for having this done, where a needle is used to create body art.
What is a tattoo?
This term describes the constant need for blood donations because red cells have a limited shelf life.
What is a constant/ongoing shortage (or perishable supply)?
The Red Cross provides about this percentage of the nation's blood supply.
What is 40%?
This protein, present in Rh-positive blood, is what makes it incompatible with Rh-negative blood.
What is the D antigen (or Rh factor)?
Before donating, your finger is pricked to check the level of this component, which carries oxygen.
What is hemoglobin?
A potential lifetime deferral exists for those who spent a certain amount of time in the UK during this "Mad Cow Disease" risk period.
What is 1980-1996?
Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs one of these.
What is a blood transfusion?
This physician pioneered the first blood bank in the U.S. in the 1930s.
Who was Dr. Charles Drew?