‘What’s your blood type' is a fast-paced, engaging event, which would enable NHS Blood and Transplant to recruit donors and at the same time satisfy a curiosity about their likely blood type. This is done by taking a small sample of blood from the finger and measuring the reaction on specialised cards.

Some FAQs:

What's happening and when?

NHS Blood and Transplant will be coming to carry out a 'know your blood type' event. This will be an opportunity for staff to enrol as blood donors and in turn, also participate in a finger prick test to find out your likely blood type.

Who will be interested and why?

This is an engaging event that will be of interest to anyone looking to sign up to become a blood donor or looking to find out more information about this subject. The added benefit of providing blood donors with the opportunity to find out their likely blood type will also give valuable information about what your blood type means, how rare it is and what is used for.

What do people need to do?

The process will take in total around 5 minutes. You will need to fill in a form to register your details, enabling us to enrol you as a future blood donor. Once this has been done, if you wish, we can carry out a finger prick test to provide an instant result of your likely blood type. The finger prick test involves a trained member of our team, taking a small sample of the participant's blood (only 4 drops of blood are required), placing it on an Eldon card with a saline solution and mixing the sample to gain a result within 2 minutes, the likely blood type will be told to the participant and a brief explanation of the blood type will be given.

Most people can give blood. If you are in generally good health and between the age of 17 - 65 you could sign up today! The students can register from age 16, and they will receive a letter when they turn 17 explaining that they are now eligible to be a blood donor and to book an appointment at their convenience.

Requirements

NHS Blood and Transplant adhere to strict health and safety guidelines ensuring the tests are carried out safely, efficiently, and as accurately as possible. The testing booths are fully enclosed to ensure privacy to the donor whilst conducting the typing test and stands can be set up to suit the location availability. However, to conduct this event safely and gain the maximum number of potential donors, it is important to ensure the correct type of space is secured.

These requirements consist of: