Blood transfusion facts and facts about blood transfusions.
11 facts on this shelf
British Shorthairs have an unusually high rate of type B blood compared with most cats, which matters a lot for blood transfusions and for breeding, since mismatched blood types can harm newborn kittens.
Karl Landsteiner discovered the main human blood types in 1901 and won the Nobel Prize in 1930.
Some of the first blood transfusions, in the 1660s, used blood from animals like lambs.
Charles Drew pioneered blood banking and plasma storage during WWII.
The first hospital blood bank in the US opened at Cook County Hospital in Chicago in 1937, and its founder coined the term "blood bank."
O negative is the universal donor blood type.
One blood donation can help up to three people.
Australian James Harrison, known as "the man with the golden arm," donated plasma more than 1,000 times, and it was used to make a treatment that protects babies.
Someone in the US needs blood about every two seconds.
The "Rh" in Rh factor comes from rhesus monkeys.
Donated red blood cells can be stored for about 42 days.