MILTON — Blood bank staffers ask those with every blood type to donate, but the most crucial type for traumatic situations, when seconds count, is the most rare, O negative.
For May, Trauma Awareness Month, the American Red Cross urges blood and platelet donation, especially the universal O negative blood.
According to the Red Cross, in a trauma, doctors reach for O negative first for time and accuracy.
Would it help to have one’s blood type readily accessible? Experts say no.
“If you’d like for your blood type to be readily known, you can include it on a medical ID bracelet,” said Sue Shoff, Santa Rosa Medical Center’s laboratory services director. “In a trauma or otherwise emergent situation, providers are not going to go through a patient’s belongings or even look at a medical bracelet to determine what blood to use prior to transfusion.
“In a life-threatening situation, they are typically going to use O negative blood until the patient is stabilized.”
Less than 7 percent of the population has type O negative blood and of this percentage, roughly one pint of blood is taken in a donation, according to the Red Cross.
However, while noting every trauma is different, Trish Davis, SRMC chief nursing officer said, “In some cases, a trauma can even require 5 liters (10.57 pints) or more; it just depends on the severity of the injuries.”
And if you don’t know your blood type?
“If you don’t know your blood type, you can easily find out by asking your physician to write a lab order for an ABO and Rh test,” Shoff said.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: O negative blood needed in Santa Rosa County for emergencies