Rotherham Council hosts 'what's your blood type?' event to encourage blood donation

IT’S not often you get told something about you is “very common” — but equally “in demand”.

But taking a trip to Riverside House to Rotherham Council’s ‘What’s Your Blood Type?’ event, I discovered exactly that.

The event was open to those eligible to and considering donating blood and the Advertiser was third in line in the queue, just behind council leader Cllr Chris Read and chief executive Sharon Kemp.

In order to find out people’s blood type, NHS staff carry out a very quick finger-prick blood test and the tiny spot sample is then analysed.

There are four main blood groups — A, B, AB and O — and each group can be either RhD positive or RhD negative, making eight groups in total.

In just a minute or two, it was revealed I was O+ — joining more than a third of the population (36 per cent) in having the most common blood type in the country.

But I was also told this meant my blood group was “always in demand”, because three in four patients, or 76 per cent of the population, can benefit from it, making it the type most commonly needed by hospitals.

Donating blood is essential to those with serious illnesses and it is important there is a wide range of donors from a variety of backgrounds to ensure hospitals have a sufficient supply of all the different types.

Giving blood is also linked to health benefits for the donor as well as the person receiving the donation, as studies have shown that donating can help to reduce the risk of heart attacks and lower blood pressure.

I registered to make my first donation at a nearby blood donation venue in a few weeks’ time — and it was great to discover once I become a donor, I can download the Give Blood app and even track my donation’s journey to find out which hospital received it.

Council leader Cllr Chris Read said: “Blood donors can make a profound difference to any of us in an emergency situation so it’s critical that the health service has the supplies it needs.

“We were glad to be able to support this event and invite potential new blood donors to join in and lend their support and I would urge anyone who is interested in helping out to get their blood type tested and see if they can meet this critical need.”

Potential donors can check they are eligible online via www.tinyurl.com/DonorCheck.