Donating blood is something that most healthy people can do, it only takes a small part of your day and has the potential to save many lives each time you do it. Just register to become a donor and start saving lives!
of eligible people give blood on a regular basis
of blood are needed every day to meet hospital demand
is roughly all it takes to give a whole blood donation
Every whole blood donation can save or improve the lives of up to three people and a platelet donation can help even more. Your blood can be used to help the following and many more.
A whole blood donation is when blood is drawn from the vein directly into the blood storage bag.
The average whole blood donation session takes between 15-30 minutes and results in just under 1 pint of blood being taken.
Female whole blood donors can give every 4 months and male whole blood donors can give every 3 months.
Red blood cells have a shelf-life of 35 days.
A component donation is when the blood is passed through a machine that separates out the components needed (usually platelets and plasma) and returns the remainder to the donor.
A platelet donation can take up to 90 minutes and can help up to 3 adults or 12 babies.
Red blood cells are returned so component donors can donate up to 15 times a year.
Platelets only have a shelf-life of 7 days.
Simply put, a blood type can be defined as a red blood cell that contains a specific surface antigen (surface marker).
Differences in human blood are due to the presence or absence of certain protein molecules called antigens and antibodies.
The antigens are located on the surface of the red blood cells and the antibodies are in the blood plasma.
has A type antigens
has B type antigens
has both antigens
has no antigens
A blood type can be classed as positive or negative, this refers to a protein (called Rhesus) found on the covering of the red blood cells. A person's blood is Rhesus positive if the protein is present and Rhesus negative if the protein is absent.
The National Blood Service collects about 7,000 donations to maintain supplies to hospitals in England and Wales, but on average just 200 of these donations are from ethnic minority donors. Some blood types are more common within ethnic communities, and with bone marrow, you are much more likely to find a match from your own ethnic group.
You could save somebody in your community!
*Experimental feature using Google Maps API, may not return only blood donation centres