Did You Know...

• blood is either dark red or bright red, depending on the amount of oxygen in it
• donated red blood cells must be used within 42 days
• around 40,000 units of blood are used every day in the U.S.
• there are more than five trillion cells in your bloodstream
• of all eligible donors, only 5% actually donate
• red blood cells live about 120 days in the circulatory system
• your body has 70,000 miles of blood vessels
• blood donors can give as often as every 56 days (8 weeks)
• the average adult has 10 pints of blood in their body
• you stand a 95% chance of needing blood by age 72
• donating blood is safe
• blood makes up about 7% of your body's weight
• it takes over 400 donations every day to meet the need for blood in our area
• every second, your body replaces eight million old red cells with new red cells
• one out of every 10 people entering a hospital needs blood
• your heart pumps blood through the circulatory system more than a thousand times every day
• one unit of blood is roughly one pint
• the actual blood donation usually takes less than 10 minutes
• A single drop of blood contains millions of red blood cells
• A sickle cell patient can use more than 4 units of blood a week
• donated whole blood must be used within 35 days
• females receive 53% of blood transfused
• someone needs blood every three seconds in the United States
• only 7 percent of the U.S. population has O-negative blood
• your donated red blood cells are replaced within 3-4 weeks
• someone needs blood every six seconds in our area
• blood is made up of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma
• one pint of blood can help as many as 4 patients