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1. 4.5 million Americans will need a blood transfusion each year.

2. 43,000 pints: amount of donated blood used each day in the U.S. and Canada.

3. Someone needs blood every 2 seconds.

4. Only 37% of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood– less than 10% do annually.**

5. About 1 in 7 people entering a hospital need blood.

6. One pint of blood can help save up to 3 lives.

7. Healthy adults who are at least 17 years old (16 with parental permission), and at least 110 pounds may donate about a pint of blood – the most common form of donation – every 56 days, or every 2 months.

8. Females receive 53% of blood transfusions; males receive 47%.

9. 94% of blood donors are registered voters.

10. There are 4 main red blood cell types: A, B, AB and O. Each can be positive or negative for the Rh factor.

11. People with O– blood are universal donors of red blood cells.

12. People with AB blood are universal donors of platelets and plasma.

13. Dr. Karl Landsteiner first identified the major human blood groups (A, B, AB and O) in 1901.

14. One unit of blood contains several components, including red blood cells, plasma, and platelets.

15. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the body's organs and tissues.

16. Red blood cells live about 120 days in the circulatory system.

17. Platelets promote blood clotting and may be given to people with leukemia or other cancers.

18. Plasma is a pale yellow mixture of water, proteins and salts.

19. Plasma, which is 90% water, makes up 55% of blood volume.

20. Healthy bone marrow makes a constant supply of red cells, plasma and platelets.

21. Blood or plasma that comes from people who have been paid for it cannot be used for human transfusion.

22. Granulocytes, a type of white blood cell, roll along blood vessel walls in search of bacteria to engulf and destroy.

23. White cells are the body's primary defense against infection.

24. Apheresis is a special kind of blood donation that allows a donor to give specific blood components, such as platelets and plasma.

25. 42 days: how long most donated red blood cells can be stored.

26. 5 days: how long donated platelets can be stored.

27. 1 year: how long frozen plasma can be stored.

28. Much of today's medical care depends on a steady supply of blood from healthy donors.

29. 3 pints: the average whole blood and red blood cell transfusion.*

30. Children being treated for cancer, premature infants and children having heart surgery need blood and platelets from donors of all types, especially type O.

31. Anemic patients may need blood transfusions to increase their red blood cell levels.

32. Cancer and trauma patients, as well as patients undergoing open-heart surgery, may require   platelet transfusions to survive.

33. Many patients with severe sickle cell disease receive blood transfusions every month.

34. A patient could be forced to pass up a lifesaving organ, if compatible blood is not available to support the transplant.

35. 17% of non-donors cite "never thought about it" as the main reason for not giving, while 15%say they're too busy.

36. The #1 reason blood donors say they give is because they "want to help others."

37. Shortages of all blood types happen during the summer and winter holidays.

38. Blood centers most often run short of types O and B red blood cells.

39. There is no substitute for human blood.

40. 46.5 gallons: amount of blood you could donate if you begin at age 17 and donate every 56 days until you are 79 years old.

41. There are 4 steps to donating blood: medical history, mini-physical, donation and snacks.

42. The actual blood donation takes less than 15 minutes. The entire process – from the time you sign in to the time you leave – takes about an hour.

43. After donating blood, you replace the fluid in hours and the red blood cells within 4 weeks. It takes 8 weeks to restore the iron lost after donating.

44. You cannot get AIDS or any other infectious disease by donating blood.

45. 10 pints: amount of blood in the body of an average adult.

46. One unit of whole blood is roughly the equivalent of one pint.

47. Blood makes up about 7% of your body's weight.

48. A newborn baby has about one cup of blood in his body.

49. Giving blood will not decrease your strength.

50. Any company, community organization, place of worship or individual may contact their local community blood center to host a blood drive.

51. Blood drives hosted by companies, schools, places of worship and civic organizations supply roughly half of all blood donations across the U.S.

52. People who donate blood are volunteers and are not paid for their donation.

*Source: The 2007 Nationwide Blood Collection and Utilization Survey Report, Department of Health & Human Services.
 

**W Riley, et al. The United States’ potential blood donor pool: estimating the prevalence of donor-exclusion factors on the pool of potential donors. Transfusion 2007.