FAST FACTS \ Human blood

An adult body contains 10-12 pints of blood.
It takes about 6-10 minutes to donate a pint of blood and 24 hours for the body to replace the blood fluid volume. The red cells may take up to two months for full restoration.
Whole blood has a shelf life of 35 days. Red blood cells last 42 days, platelets only five days and plasma up to one year.
The most common blood type is O positive, representing about 38 percent of the population. Less than 1 percent of the population has AB negative, the rarest blood type.
An average healthy person will be eligible to give blood more than 330 times in his or her lifetime.
Less than 5 percent of the general population donates blood, but the majority of people will have at least one family member who will require at least one blood transfusion.
After donation, each unit of blood goes through up to 12 tests at a National Testing Lab. Every unit of blood is screened for infectious diseases such as HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B and C, as well as for unexpected antibodies that might cause complications in some patients.
Within 18 hours of submitting blood samples to the NTL in Detroit, test results are sent back to the Northern Ohio Blood Services Region. Any blood that does not pass all lab tests is destroyed.