Blood Drive

(Florida) About every 2 seconds someone in the United States needs a blood transfusion. Despite all our technology medical advances, there is still no sufficient man-made substitute for human blood, which is why blood donations are so important. Millions of people need blood transfusions each year. Some may need blood during surgery. Others depend on it after an accident or because they have a disease that requires blood components. Though the demand for blood is high and half of all Americans are eligible to donate, only about 5 percent of those eligible to give blood do so.

For the last 5 years Coaster has partnered with the American Red Cross to help those in need. On May 15th, the blood mobile came to Coaster Florida, so employees could donate blood. 18 employees volunteered and with their “gift of life” approximately 50 people will be saved. Thank you to all who participated.

Interesting Blood Donation Facts
People donate blood for different reasons -- some do it for friends, family members, or even themselves. Others volunteer to help people they don't even know.

Aside from protecting those who receive donated blood, rules are also in place to protect people who want to donate. Although guidelines can vary slightly by state and facility, generally donors must:

• be healthy 
• be at least 17 years old 
• weigh at least 110 pounds 
• not have donated blood within the past 8 weeks (shorter for most aphaeresis donations) 
• not be taking antibiotics

Less than 5 percent of healthy Americans eligible to donate blood, actually do so. In an emergency, anyone can receive type O red blood cells, and type AB individuals can receive red blood cells of any ABO type. Therefore, people with type O blood are known as “universal donors” and those with type AB blood are known as “universal recipients.” In addition, AB Plasma donors can give to all blood types
What is the most common blood type?
The approximate distribution of blood types in the US population is as follows. Distribution may be different for specific racial and ethnic groups:

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