[Winged Hussar]

This is for the men and women in uniform who are protecting our freedom.

Please spread the word.

[MeanWestTexan]

Damn it, I hate giving blood, but I am AB.

Oh well, I’ll get drunk off of just a little wine tonight.

[Spktyr]

Unfortunately, I’m Type A. :(

[gjones77]

Your title is a little off.

Blood and plasma are slightly different, plasma is the liquid component of blood and AB is the universal donor when it comes to plasma.

With blood O- is the universal donor and AB is the universal recipient.

[mathluv]

I am A-, but have never been able to donate. (not sure why - once was because I had or was having surgery in the next 12 months.)

[Mark was here]

Is the Red Cross going to sell the blood to the government?

Don’t be fooled into thinking the Disaster Relief folks are the same as the Blood Business.

The blood business cynically uses disaster images to push their business.

I would not mind donating if the Red Cross was not involved.

[fanfan]

Ping

[Man50D]

Some AB Blood Type Stats:

AB+
4% of patients can receive your red blood cells.
All patients can receive your platelets.
All patients can receive your plasma.

AB-
All patients can receive your Platelets.
5% of patients can receive your red blood cells.
All patients can receive your plasma.

[GBA]

I used to donate all the time but the Red Cross doesn’t want my blood any more. I lived in Germany for 6 months in 1987 and that makes my blood a risk for mad cow. I have barked at the moon a few times, but that doesn’t mean I’m mad or a cow.

[AnnaZ]

I'm AB+, but, frankly, have issues with the Red Cross. Are they going to sell what I might donate?

[redhead]

AB+ here, also. I don’t qualify to donate to apheresis, but can give whole blood, and it’s time. My son and I will go on Monday (blood bank is closed Thurs-Sun).

[tophat9000]

What the hell did something change?... AB is not the unversal donors...O is

An AB+ can receive from anyone, an O- can give to anyone

[Wiseghy]

My recollection is that Plasma Donors are a special category at the Red Cross, requiring a special screening process and an extra long visit. It takes special dedication to be a plasma donor. Not sure if there are any guarantees that DoD will ever see your plasma in any case, since Red Cross sells to many buyers. Might be worth checking on.

You may want to call before to find out about being a plasma donor.

Wish I could “assign” my blood to DoD, but I doubt I can.

[LibWhacker]

REFUSE TO DONATE TO LIBERALS! ...or muslims... Let the b***ards die.

Otherwise, I give freely.

[VeniVidiVici]

Stationed in Berlin in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s they won’t let me donate blood.

Sort of ironic, isn’t it?

[patriciaruth]

Good cause Ping.

If you know anyone who is AB blood type, please encourage them to be a regular plasma donor and save lives.

The rest of us have anti-A and/or anti-B antibodies in our blood plasma, and can’t do this service.

Plasma is the fluid part of blood minus the red blood cells, so you don’t get anemic or weak after donating.

[Beckwith]

I’m AB and will go to the Veterans Administration Hospital first thing Monday morning.

I wouldn’t give **** to the Red Cross. There’s no way to know what their overpaid executives will do with it.

Just because they say it is for the military, doesn’t make it so.

If you want to give, go right to the VA.

[SoldierDad]

I have a son who is O+. Is this type needed too?

[toddlintown]

CAUTION: I was tested going in to the Army and tested AB+. Thought I was Hot$hit. Years later, when I had to have surgery, I was asked to go through the blood profiling again.

I was O+. The nurse said the Army was the worst for tagging blood types.

Winds up, she was right about my blood type.

[Grizzled Bear]

I really wish I could donate. I spent three years in the U.K. and eight in Germany. Before being stationed in Germany I donated every other month.

Anybody know if the ban will ever be lifted?

[Jean S]

This doesn't fit with what I understand about blood transfusions unless things are different with plasma versus blood.

Blood transfusions – who can receive blood from whom?

People with blood group 0 are called "universal donors" and people with blood group AB are called "universal receivers."

 

Of course you can always give A blood to persons with blood group A, B blood to a person with blood group B and so on. But in some cases you can receive blood with another type of blood group, or donate blood to a person with another kind of blood group.

The transfusion will work if a person who is going to receive blood has a blood group that doesn't have any antibodies against the donor blood's antigens. But if a person who is going to receive blood has antibodies matching the donor blood's antigens, the red blood cells in the donated blood will clump.

Blood Group	Antigens	Antibodies	Can give blood to	Can receive blood from
AB	A and B	None	AB	AB, A, B, 0
A	A	B	A and AB	A and 0
B	B	A	B and AB	B and 0
0	None	A and B	AB, A, B, 0	0