On an average 45% of individuals are in Group O, 40% are in Group A, 10% are in Group B and 5% are in Group AB.

A small percentage of people have rare blood types.

The recipient and donor's blood should match, in major ABO group as well as Rh type. A patient with Rh-negative blood cannot be given Rh-positive blood as the antigen-antibody reactions will result in severe consequences.

We are in need of all blood groups!

O negative is uncommon - and special

Only 6 percent of the population is O negative.

We have a great need for whole blood donations from O negative donors!

• O negative patients should receive blood only from O negative donors.
• Interestingly, people with every other blood type can safely be transfused with O negative blood, which is usually done in an extreme emergency, before their own blood types can be determined.
• In addition, O negative is often the preferred blood type for newborn infants when they need blood.

O positive, of course, is the most in demand

We have a great need for O positive blood donations. This type is the most common - nearly 40 percent of the population is O positive.

The demand is even greater, because O positive can be transfused to patients with other blood types if their specific group is not available.

Even more precious - rare blood types

A small percentage of people inherit rare blood types, which means any type that is hard to find. A blood type is considered rare when more than 200 donors have to be screened to find one compatible donor.

It is very important to know if you have a special blood type.

Some patients with rare blood types need to be transfused with the same rare type as their own.