Bone marrow transplant patients may need platelet donations from about 120 people and red blood cells from about 20 people. Can you be one of them?
41. Severe burn victims can need 20 units of platelets during their treatment. 42. Children being treated for cancer, premature infants and children having heart surgery need blood and platelets from donors of all types. 43. Anemic patients need blood transfusions to increase their iron levels. 44. Cancer, transplant and trauma patients, and patients undergoing open-heart surgery require platelet transfusions to survive. 45. Sickle cell disease is an inherited disease that affects more than 80,000 people in the United States, 98 percent of whom are of African descent. Some patients with complications from severe sickle cell disease receive blood transfusions every month — up to 4 pints at a time. 46. 500,000: the number of Americans who donated blood in the days following the September 11 attacks. 47. Females receive 53 percent of blood transfusions; males receive 47 percent. 48. 94 percent of blood donors are also registered voters. 49. 37 percent of the U.S. population is eligible t
