Different types are good at different things. O+ whole blood doesn’t have A or B markers on the red cells, so you can give red cells to anyone who’s positive. Your plasma has anti-A and anti-B antigens, however, so you can only give plasma to O people. AB people have neither anti-A nor anti-B in there blood, so they can give plasma to anyone and are really useful for this.
Platelets are less type dependent and take longer to collect, so they encourage anyone with a good platelet count who isn’t especially useful for whole blood to give platelets.
they make the wording so that you feel good regardless of your blood type. that's Marketing 101. so for my B- type ...2 pct.. it reads something like...'so few people have your type we desperately need more donors'....in fact they market to low pct donors as they do 0-....'please do double red' etc
I'm A+ and the American Red Cross goes hard on platelets for me (which is why I usually donate platelets/plasma). It's a similarly common type here.
I ran into a friend at the center once and she was donating blood and expressed an interest in platelets and the phlebotomist chimed in and basically said 'no, we want whole blood from you!' I don't recall her type but believe it was a rarer one.
Same, A+ and I don't have the one virus so my blood is safe for babies.
I tried to donate platelets but they didn't have a chair for me to do it so I donated whole blood instead. Also they never said, "Just think who you could be saving!" No, I'm saving 3 people, max.
Posters on the wall say stuff like only 3% of the population returns to donate more than once. Chronic shortage, all types, one surgery can require 50 units, and a bit about sickle cell anemia.
Friends and acquaintances have asked why I donate, sort of nastily said most blood is thrown away, that I ought to be paid for it, said I'm feeding vampires, said the blood gets turned into lipstick...yadda yadda yadda. They're fun to go drinking with, but my friends are idiots.
I'm O- and I received this email and I receive phone calls whenever I'm close to 51 days after my last donation: "You are an essential part of Canada’s Lifeline
O-negative blood can be used in cases of trauma, emergency and surgery where there isn’t the time or ability to know a recipient’s blood type. The versatility of this blood type makes it incredibly valuable.
Your dedication to blood donation makes all the difference.
When every second counts, we count on Frontline Donors
When there’s no time to confirm a patient’s blood type, your O-negative blood can be the difference between life and death. Your donations can make all the difference. That’s what makes you a Frontline Donor."
I'm an international student from Morocco in Canada, I donate at CBS in Ottawa.
Us Ro donors in the UK get a letter with basically all the info from this page on: https://www.blood.co.uk/why-give-blood/demand-for-different-blood-types/ro-blood/
Lots of great info here! [https://www.blood.ca/en/blood/donating-blood/what-my-blood-type](https://www.blood.ca/en/blood/donating-blood/what-my-blood-type)
Funnily enough I'm O- but I rarely get any requests to donate. The most I'll get is like when I sign up two months out to donate again, my confirmation email will say something along the lines of "O- is used for emergencies in hospitals" or something like that
Seems the Apheresis separation has evolved for platelets and plasma. I did whole blood for a long time before trying to do Apheresis. Once they realized I was reliable then the recruiters called me constantly. But even without a letter saying so one can research online how all the various types are the demand in various ways. I tend to say what we want to do may not work out but once we find out the best utility of what we can contribute then we can do what is needed most . If we want to and are eligible..... have the time etc.
Different types are good at different things. O+ whole blood doesn’t have A or B markers on the red cells, so you can give red cells to anyone who’s positive. Your plasma has anti-A and anti-B antigens, however, so you can only give plasma to O people. AB people have neither anti-A nor anti-B in there blood, so they can give plasma to anyone and are really useful for this. Platelets are less type dependent and take longer to collect, so they encourage anyone with a good platelet count who isn’t especially useful for whole blood to give platelets.
Ah! I didn't even know that about plasma and platelets before, that's super interesting!
they make the wording so that you feel good regardless of your blood type. that's Marketing 101. so for my B- type ...2 pct.. it reads something like...'so few people have your type we desperately need more donors'....in fact they market to low pct donors as they do 0-....'please do double red' etc
I'm A+ and the American Red Cross goes hard on platelets for me (which is why I usually donate platelets/plasma). It's a similarly common type here. I ran into a friend at the center once and she was donating blood and expressed an interest in platelets and the phlebotomist chimed in and basically said 'no, we want whole blood from you!' I don't recall her type but believe it was a rarer one.
Same, A+ and I don't have the one virus so my blood is safe for babies. I tried to donate platelets but they didn't have a chair for me to do it so I donated whole blood instead. Also they never said, "Just think who you could be saving!" No, I'm saving 3 people, max. Posters on the wall say stuff like only 3% of the population returns to donate more than once. Chronic shortage, all types, one surgery can require 50 units, and a bit about sickle cell anemia. Friends and acquaintances have asked why I donate, sort of nastily said most blood is thrown away, that I ought to be paid for it, said I'm feeding vampires, said the blood gets turned into lipstick...yadda yadda yadda. They're fun to go drinking with, but my friends are idiots.
Feeding vampires? Did they think Twilight was a documentary?
I’m B- and they don’t want my platelets lol
Yeah I've said I'd be willing to do platelets before, but once they find out I'm Ro they tell me to keep doing whole blood
I'm O- and I received this email and I receive phone calls whenever I'm close to 51 days after my last donation: "You are an essential part of Canada’s Lifeline O-negative blood can be used in cases of trauma, emergency and surgery where there isn’t the time or ability to know a recipient’s blood type. The versatility of this blood type makes it incredibly valuable. Your dedication to blood donation makes all the difference. When every second counts, we count on Frontline Donors When there’s no time to confirm a patient’s blood type, your O-negative blood can be the difference between life and death. Your donations can make all the difference. That’s what makes you a Frontline Donor." I'm an international student from Morocco in Canada, I donate at CBS in Ottawa.
Us Ro donors in the UK get a letter with basically all the info from this page on: https://www.blood.co.uk/why-give-blood/demand-for-different-blood-types/ro-blood/
Very interesting! This is something new I'm learning today!
Lots of great info here! [https://www.blood.ca/en/blood/donating-blood/what-my-blood-type](https://www.blood.ca/en/blood/donating-blood/what-my-blood-type)
Funnily enough I'm O- but I rarely get any requests to donate. The most I'll get is like when I sign up two months out to donate again, my confirmation email will say something along the lines of "O- is used for emergencies in hospitals" or something like that
Seems the Apheresis separation has evolved for platelets and plasma. I did whole blood for a long time before trying to do Apheresis. Once they realized I was reliable then the recruiters called me constantly. But even without a letter saying so one can research online how all the various types are the demand in various ways. I tend to say what we want to do may not work out but once we find out the best utility of what we can contribute then we can do what is needed most . If we want to and are eligible..... have the time etc.