Blood Facts

• Blood makes up about 7% of your body's weight.
• A newborn baby has about one cup (8 ounces) of blood in his or her body.
• There are four main blood types: A, B, AB and O. AB is the “universal recipient” and O negative is the “universal donor”.
• Shortages of all types of blood most often occur during summer and winter holidays.
• Giving blood will not decrease your strength.
• You cannot get AIDS or any other infectious disease by donating blood.

The Need For Blood

• More than 4.5 million patients need life-saving blood transfusions each year in the U.S. and Canada
• 43,000 pints of donated blood are used each day in the U.S. and Canada.
• Every three seconds, someone needs blood
• On average, one out of every 7 people entering the hospital will need blood.
• Blood banks often run short of type O and B blood.
• The average red-cell transfusion amounts to 2.7 pints.

How Blood Helps

Each unit of donated blood can be separated into several components (red cells, plasma, platelets, cryoprecipitate).

As components, just one pint of donated blood can help up to 3 people.

Blood Type Distribution

Among 100% of Americans, blood types are distributed as follows (MI Blood has an accompanying chart with this):

Download more fascinating facts about blood and blood donation.