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Whole Blood Donation

Whole blood contains red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma. Because patients seldom require all of the components of whole blood, it is rarely transfused as a unit. A whole blood donation can be separated into platelets, plasma and red cells after your donation and each component can be transfused to a different patient, thus helping save more than one life.

Shelf life:	42 days
Common uses:	trauma or surgery patients
Best blood types to donate:	O+, O-, B+, B-
Estimated donation time:	about 1 hour
How often you can donate	every 56 days, up to 6 times per year
Eligibility:	To be eligible you must: weigh at least 110 lbs. be in good health be at least 17 years old* * In Utah, Idaho, and Montana 17-year olds can donate with a signed American Red Cross parental consent form. In addition, all donors at high school blood drives in Utah or Idaho must have a signed American Red Cross parental consent form.

You can e-mail specific eligibility questions to CanIDonate@usa.redcross.org. If you have questions before or after your donation, please call 1-800-737-0902.

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Types of donations