We Can Do It! I Donated Blood – Will You Donate, Too?

Name: Jen Anesi.
Age: 28 years old.
Height and weight: 5'6" and 135 pounds.
Blood Type? O negative.

I donate for three reasons.

First, I want to help people. That's the No. 1 reason blood donors give when asked why they donate, and it's my No. 1 reason, too. If someone is injured or needs blood, I would like to be able to help them.

Second, I feel a little obligated. I mean, every medical show on TV these days has McSteamies and McDreamies screaming for "more O-neg, STAT!" and every time I hear that, I can't help thinking, "Hey, that's my blood type."

And it's true – O negative is the universal donor. Anybody in the world can receive O negative blood; it's the blood given to patients whose blood type is not yet known, and it's often given to infants, too. Wouldn't it be selfish for me not to donate?

Which brings us to reason No. 3: Karma. I totally believe that what goes around, comes around, and I'm hoping that if I ever end up in the hospital and need O negative blood, it will be there for me.

Plus – free juice and cookies. So I guess that's four reasons. Whatever.

Obviously, the Red Cross doesn't just need O negative blood. If you have O positive blood (which is likely, since 38 percent of the population is O positive), you can donate to all other positive blood types. To learn more about what blood types can be given to whom, check out these spiffy interactive diagrams from the Red Cross.

No matter your blood type, donating blood is incredibly important. Right now, there is no substitute for human blood, and currently, there's a in Michigan.

Each whole blood donation can save up to three lives. If you are a donor, thank you.

To give you something to chew on, here are a few facts about blood from www.redcrossblood.org:

• Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood.
• More than 38,000 blood donations are needed every day.
• A total of 30 million blood components are transfused each year in the U.S.
• The average red blood cell transfusion is approximately 3 pints.
• The blood type most often requested by hospitals is Type O.
• The blood used in an emergency is already on the shelves before the event occurs.
• Sickle cell disease affects more than 80,000 people in the U.S., 98 percent of whom are African American. Sickle cell patients can require frequent blood transfusions throughout their lives.
• More than 1 million new people are diagnosed with cancer each year. Many of them will need blood, sometimes daily, during their chemotherapy treatment.
• A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 pints of blood.

For a list of blood drives near you, click here or call 800-RED-CROSS.