Donating blood

ber of components, including red blood cells, platelets and plasma. Each of these can be used to treat many different conditions.

GIVING BLOOD:

stored indefinitely. Blood or the components of blood are used to treat patients with medical conditions such as anaemia, cancer blood disorders, and those having surgery.

Blood is made up of a num­

Blood is usually separated into its individual components or parts, so a patient can be given the particular component they need. This makes the most of every blood donation, as the components in one unit of blood (or one donation) can be used to treat different patients.