Do you know your blood type?

[IrishEyes]

Whenever I watch a movie and there is a medical emergency, all the characters seem to always know their blood type when asked. In real life, I haven't met many people who know their blood type.

I finally found out that I was O positive when I gave blood.

[TexasTowelie]

1. O negative

[lastlib]

30. Type C

(as in "Caffeine&quot I'm worthless if I get too much blood in my caffeine stream...............

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I know mine, my dear IrishEyes...

But I learned what it was in a biology class. O positive.

It was confirmed when I gave blood too.

[Ron Obvious]

3. Isn't it funny...

Isn't it funny that everybody knows their star sign and virtually nobody knows their blood type?

Never believed in astrology, but I'm afraid it was even true for me for most of my life.

O+

[mythology]

17. I'm O negative

and because I do double reds, the Red Cross seems to have me on speed dial. I can donate every 16 weeks so about every 12 weeks they start calling me asking me to schedule an appointment. Which would be less annoying if they stopped once I had an appointment scheduled.

But I actually have no idea what my astrological sign is. I remember a potential roommate asking me about that once. I told her I didn't know and so she asked my date of birth. Upon hearing it, she thought for a few moments and then said that she didn't think our signs were compatible. I about facepalmed in front of her.

[Kali]

4. universal donor

O neg

[Tuesday Afternoon]

16. O negative = universal donor ?? really ?!

I thought O positive was the universal donor ...

I am O pos.

[Glorfindel]

23. I'm O pos., also - always understood it's the universal recipient blood type

while O neg. is the universal donor. My oldest sister was O neg., and she was called on frequently to donate blood.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

25. yes, you are right. got it backwards. blame it on lack of coffee - thanks, Glorfindel

[Ilsa]

93. Type O is a universal donor, but can only receive type O blood.

Type A can receive A and O
Type B can receive B and O
Type AB can receive AB, O, and might be able to receive A or B, depending on agglutination tests.

Negative Rhesis factor people should receive only Negative Rh blood. Positive can receive either.

But it is best to get your own blood type. In an emergency, the doctors order O Negative blood because it is a universal donor.

Blood may be checked for CMV (cytomegalovirus), which half or more of the population has, if it is going to special cases like weak newborns, preemies, etc.

[lunatica]

44. 0+ can give blood to everyone, but only take 0+ or 0-

0- trumps 0+ for that reason.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

53. that is what I thought: O+ can give blood to EVERYONE. thanks.

I always thought that O+ was universal donor and AB- was universal recipient ...

[Kali]

61. donor

Type O-negative blood does not have any antigens. It is called the "universal donor" type because it is compatible with any blood type. Type AB-positive blood is called the "universal recipient" type because a person who has it can receive blood of any type. Although "universal donor" and "universal recipient" types may be used to classify blood in an emergency, blood type tests are always done to prevent transfusion reactions.

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/blood-type-test


on edit: red cross site says O is universal donor plus this:

n addition to the A and B antigens, there is a third antigen called the Rh factor, which can be either present (+) or absent ( – ). In general, Rh negative blood is given to Rh-negative patients, and Rh positive blood or Rh negative blood may be given to Rh positive patients.

The universal red cell donor has Type O negative blood type.
The universal plasma donor has Type AB positive blood type.

http://www.redcrossblood.org/learn-about-blood/blood-types

[Tuesday Afternoon]

63. yeah. lack of coffee this morning. had to wake up.

[opiate69]

5. A+

[Arctic Dave]

6. My blood type. Vodka

[darkangel218]

21. Mine is Coors Light!

[olddots]

7. I always forget what type it is

I know it's not rare and real common

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. My dear olddots...

It's probably O positive, or maybe A positive. Those are the most common types.

If you can donate blood, do it, and then you'll have a donor card that will tell you what your type is.

[grasswire]

9. A neg

It probably is a good thing for people to know.

[Tab]

10. Oddly enough we were just talking about this yesterday

(first time the topic has come up in years)

Precipitated by my wife getting a letter from the Red Cross urging her to stay on the donor list because they really need her blood type.

Turns out she's o-negative, which is only 7% of the population, but is the only type that can donate to EVERYONE. All the other ones are limited. I'm o-positive, if I recall, but my blood's so mucked up, no one wants it anyway.

[In_The_Wind]

11. A B positive

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ab-positive-blood-type-diet.html [img][/img]

[sarge43]

12. A Pos

Stamped on dog tags. Impossible not to know it

[HereSince1628]

19. Yep, and that tag went from my neck to my key ring...

[sarge43]

22. Great minds

Careful not to lose them. Do have the social security number on them, gateway to your gov't records both on and off line.

[hobbit709]

13. AB+

[PuffedMica]

14. A Positive

I had a roommate in college who was a hemophiliac.
Human blood is a commodity that can only come from a human.
I am on a mission to give 10 gallons before I die. I am currently up to 60 pints, and I just might make it.

[Agschmid]

36. I used to donate but am no longer allowed.

Wish FDA would change that guidance, they test all blood before transfusions I believe?

[RILib]

51. I used to donate

until I developed a tendency to heart trouble. Now I don't dare because I'm concerned that the level it wipes me out to would bring on heart difficulties.

As to testing blood, I think some problems take awhile to show up in tests.

Everyone should know their blood type, imho. Supposing a friend needs blood, wouldn't it be nice to know if rushing over to the hospital would do any good for them?

[lunatica]

47. I beat you, but probably because I may be older than you

I've given 16 gallons. I'm 64

edited for accuracy in math

[PuffedMica]

83. Figure out the cost

It cost you 128 hours.

It gave as many as 384 other people a chance to live another day.

You probably saved the life of more than one person more likely tens of people's lives. How individuals can make that claim?

[lunatica]

86. Wow! I wondered but never thought too much about it

Over the years I did get a couple of thank-you notes. I do know it helped those two peoples' lives. I started giving blood in the late 70s for a friend of my husband's family who had a bad motorcycle accident that left his legs badly burned. The family told me I was one of the first to donate blood.

Your numbers are interesting and thank you for letting me know.

[Scuba]

15. Same as my GPA - A+

OK, just kidding about the GPA.

[HereSince1628]

18. Do you know anyone who served or is serving in the military?

I learned mine when they handed me my id tags. My guess is blood type is still part of that dog tag.

[sarge43]

24. It is. n/t

[Sekhmets Daughter]

28. My former husband served in the Military....

His dog tags say O positive...they would have killed him had he needed a transfusion...He's an O Neg...like me and our children.

[HereSince1628]

31. Well then we've gotta take away all the dog tags.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

33. Sure...why not...

keep 'em guessing! My point was that it's always better to have more than one source.

[sarge43]

67. You're right, especially critical stuff

We were running two thousand recruits a week through the Green Monster at Lackland Plane Patch. Bound to be a SNAFU here and there, considering how many paper pumps were involved.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

73. 2,000 recruits per week!

The ex's were messed up during the Vietnam era, 1967...luckily for him he was sent to Mannheim, Germany instead. He didn't know he was an O Neg until we had the tests for our marriage license in 1971! He had it tested again and confirmed it was O Neg...

Snafus are not uncommon when pushing that much paperwork through the mill!

[sarge43]

74. Vietnam era?

If that's the worst paper FU that happened to him, he lucked out.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

75. Yes, he did....

My brother was not so lucky, he died in Bihn Long Province in June, 1969.

[sarge43]

76. I am sorry.

That's a wound that may heal, but it never quite stops aching.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

77. Sarge43,

That describes it so well!

It's that ache that makes me so bitter with a government that seems to consider the lives of young men and women just so much canon fodder to be deployed for any nonsensical profiteering that presents itself. (stepping down from soap box now, with apologies)

[sarge43]

80. Well, we're getting pretty far OT, so I'll say this to finish

Yes, the king, the prez, the pope, the CEO, whoever has his paws on the power levers this time, certainly is to a point responsible. However, if the war lust, the battle rage or the simple fundamental desire to beat somebody's butt and steal their stuff wasn't within the human psyche in the first place, world history would be much different.

The fault is not in the stars or the front office. Says the old drill instructor, you can't make people do what they truly don't want to do.

[Paulie]

20. A-

Known since freshman year HS biology class when we did self test on cards. Later comfirmed after donating.

[Agschmid]

35. Also A-

[liberal N proud]

26. O positive

[Sekhmets Daughter]

27. O negative

So a universal donor...I give blood regularly now. When my children were young, however, I didn't donate because they are O Negs as well and we can only receive O Negative. The obsessive mother syndrome!

[lastlib]

29. I studied and studied and studied, and it paid off--

I got an A+ on my blood test!!!

.

[Honeycombe8]

32. How do you find that out? nt

[Major Nikon]

40. Join the military

[ohnoyoudidnt]

42. Donate blood

They should give you that information. A blood center here in FL has a website you can log into and keep track of your cholesterol, donations, and when you're able to donate again.

[Honeycombe8]

85. I don't donate blood. Blood donor places do animal research testing. Maybe my internal med dr

has it...they do a blood test every year.

[RILib]

88. "Blood donor places do animal research testing."

Really? Crap. Can you say more?

[ohnoyoudidnt]

94. This is the first I've heard of that and I can't find anything with a web search.

I would also be interested in learning more about it. Either way, without blood donors many people would die every year.

From the CDC

There are more than 9.5 million blood donors in the United States and an estimated 5 million patients who receive blood annually, resulting in a total of 14.6 million transfusions per year.(Source: NBCUS, 2007 Adobe PDF file [PDF - 2.11 MB]External Web Site Icon)

http://www.cdc.gov/bloodsafety/basics.html

[warrior1]

34. AB pos.

[PassingFair]

69. Me too....

Universal recipients, I think.

[warrior1]

72. You'd be correct.

[pipi_k]

37. It's pretty much

a given if a woman has had children that she would know her blood type, I think. They have to test for the Rh factor.

anyway, I am O negative and have had to get the Rhogam shots after each child (3) was born.

[Paulie]

38. They test the dad too sometimes

They did for me. My spouse is O- and I'm A-, so to skip the rhogam shots they had a type test run on me. Daughter has my type, son has hers.

[pipi_k]

55. They never tested

my kids' dads.

But this was 40+ years ago.

Only one of the three babies was Rh positive, but back then they gave Rhogam almost routinely to Rh negative moms, I guess, even if the baby was also Rh negative.

[SteveG]

39. ab+ (nt)

nt

[Major Nikon]

41. AB neg

[lunatica]

43. 0+

I've given 16 gallons of blood in my life regularly to the Red Cross.

[Still Blue in PDX]

49. Awesome.

The new white Red Cross cards don't say how many you've donated, so I don't know how much I've donated. As of the start of my last red card it was 50 units.

I'm a platelet donor.

[Still Blue in PDX]

45. B positive.

I always get a little kick out of saying it. B positive. Such a nice ring to it.

I'm a regular platelet donor. It's nice to be able to help someone and catch up on DVDs at the same time.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

52. How wonderful that you give your platelets!

Those are in even more short supply than blood.

A unit of platelets is only good for 5 days; after that, if it hasn't been used, it is destroyed. Most of them get used, though.

I used to be a platelet nurse. It was a great job!

[Still Blue in PDX]

66. Thanks, Peggy!

One of the biggest thrills of my life was when the Red Cross volunteer was hanging around my bed waiting to send my platelets off to a patient immediately.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

46. yes nt

[OrwellwasRight]

48. I found out when I donated blood.

0+. I was disappointed. I wanted to be more exotic. Not the most common blood type in the world. Ah well . . . Guess I am not as unique as I thought.

[lunatica]

50. Yeah, but you can save anyone's life

While you can only accept 0+ or 0- which is truly the Universal blood type, though only a small percentage have that type.

[OrwellwasRight]

56. True.

Except I haven't given blood since that first time. It was really horrible. I threw up, passed out, and had an all around bad time--had to be driven home. I'm not even sure they got a full bag and were able to use any of my blood. After they were able to revive me, they asked if they could keep the needle in my arm because you can't use a partial bag and they thought they might as well get a full bag since I went to the trouble of puking and passing out. I said sure, but if I recall correctly (it is all kind of fuzzy), they got a bit more and then the blood stopped pumping out, it was kind of stuck just under the full line. I'm not sure what all happened, but I have been afraid to donate every since.

[lunatica]

57. Nurses have told me that happens quite a bit.

So in the coming zombie apocalypse just tell the nurses to let you get drunk and pass out before they take the blood. Although I'm not sure how the recipient might fare...

[OrwellwasRight]

58. Perfect!!

[ohnoyoudidnt]

96. I've donated several times.

I haven't had or seen that before. I have heard of it, so I know it does happen to some people. It is possible you were weren't well hydrated that day. I make sure to drink plenty of fluids for the 2 days before I donate (about a gallon before I go the day of) as well as take vitamins and some iron supplements, and eat a large breakfast.

[Flashmann]

54. Do you know your blood type?

O Positive.The most common.I've always known my type.

[OrwellwasRight]

59. You mean, you were born knowing it?

Impressive!

[Flashmann]

60. Of course not

I've known my blood type since I was very young and in early grade school.At 59 years old,that seems like always.

[OrwellwasRight]

62. LOL!

[Aristus]

64. B positive.

But they don't let me donate blood anymore. For a while, there was a moratorium on blood donations from Gulf War vets. When that was lifted, they set another prohibition against anyone who had served longer than six months in Europe, due to the potential for exposure to Creuzfeld-Jakob disease. Still waiting for them to lift that one...

[shanti]

65. A+

Yup. My youngest son has a rare blood type, but I have no idea what it is (strangely, neither does he). I only found out when someone called the house one time to ask him to donate blood, which he's done before. They wouldn't tell me what his blood type was (HIPAA and all that), only that it was rare.

[RILib]

89. HIPAA is a pain in the neck

Someone's in the hospital, the family is distraught, and distant relatives can't call in to find out even the condition unless a family member is pulled away from the patient.

[Incitatus]

99. It gets much worse

I know people in the field who have dealt with some really shitty situations. Like someone not wanting to tell their partner why they are in the hospital. And it would effect their partner for reasons easy to imagine.

I understand the reasons HIPPA is needed, but some sad problems can result from it

[IcyPeas]

68. B+ ... only 8% of the population has this type

I only donate once a year when the mobile blood bank comes to our office building. I know I should do it more often.

[tblue]

110. Did not know that!

I gotta give more. Thanks for reminding me.

[UrbScotty]

70. B+ - Very fitting, since I like to "Be Positive!"

[Loryn]

71. O positive

I haven't given blood in ages. This is a good reminder to do it again.

(If they'll take it)

[Callalily]

78. Yes! eom

[a la izquierda]

79. A+

I found out in college. The first time I gave blood, I woke up after a little bit.

Covered in tattoos, yet needles make me squeamish if they're for blood or vaccines. Yuck.

[talkingmime]

81. A+ - I have it on a dog tag (literally on a dog tag). I keep a dozen tags on my collar.

PetSmart is the best place to get them engraved, double sided even. I hang them off of a clip on my collar. My service dog has the same sort of clip with the same sort of information. We both have pill cases with my general need medications and emergency pills. It's life or death for me.

[irisblue]

82. you're very smart to do that. eom

[winter is coming]

84. My blood type changes, depending on whose brain I've eaten most recently. n/t

[sakabatou]

87. AB+

[Rhiannon12866]

90. I learned mine in 10th grade biology and gave blood since I was 18. I'm A+, the best there is!

[LWolf]

91. A+

[Myrina]

92. B+, born in the 60's, gave the dr's concern for my mom ...

... the ol' Rh factor conundrum.

A sign of things to come, me making her life hell from the beginning.

[RiffRandell]

95. A+

Keep my card with me and am also on the bone marrow list.

[AnneD]

97. A+

but had an uncle that was AB-. He donated fairly regularly but he was on standby and got more than his share of midnight calls years ago. I donate platelets often. A doc once referred to my platelets as elephant platelets because the leukemia patients counts went up so much after a transfusion. I guess being a Nurse has given me a great immune system.

[antiquie]

98. I still do not know at age 63.

Why can't a person under 110 pounds donate? Seems like it shouldn't matter if you are healthy.
I'm a grandma but no one ever told me my type and I have not had a need to know.

[harmonicon]

100. I haven't the faintest idea.

Maybe it's on my driver's license? If so, how did it get there if I don't know it?! EEK!!

[OmahaBlueDog]

101. Yes. One word of wisdom for DUers contemplating having kids

Find out your blood type. Rh factor incompatibility can lead to baby issues, but rejoice -- treatment is available, simple, and effective.

[Chellee]

102. B+

nt

[fleur-de-lisa]

103. B neg (n/t)

[freshwest]

104. B+. When a doctor found that (doing tissue typing just in case) he was flabbergasted. I didn't know

at the time that it was rare in the USA.

I researched to find out where it's more prevalent which matches my family origins. Likely explains why I'm allergic to many things.

[nolabear]

105. O positive. I thought most people knew theirs.

[graham4anything]

106. Good question, have to say without looking I don't know.

[likesmountains 52]

107. Well, just as an aside..if you ever need a blood transfusion no one is going to believe you.

They will draw your blood and make sure.

[Nikia]

108. When I had my first miscarriage they typed my blood to see if there was an Rh issue

I didn't know until then , even though I knew my parent's blood types. My mother is A+. My father is B+. That means I could have been anything. It turns out that I am B+ like my father.

[tblue]

109. B+

[Baitball Blogger]

111. O positive. No! negative.

Won't it just cancel each other out?