Blood Donation

Someone in the U.S. needs blood every two seconds. You can help in about an hour.

What is blood donation?

When you donate blood, a trained worker uses a clean, new needle to collect about a pint of blood from your arm. Your body replaces the fluid within a day or two.

Donated blood is tested, separated into parts (red cells, plasma, and platelets), and sent to hospitals, where it helps patients who need it.

Why it matters

Blood is needed every day for surgeries, cancer treatment, accidents, and childbirth. It only lasts for a short time on the shelf, so blood centers always need new donors.

Hospitals in Abilene depend on donors from our area, including Clyde. Giving blood is one of the easiest ways to help someone in our own community, maybe even someone you know.

Quick facts

Someone in the U.S. needs blood about every two seconds.
Blood can't be made in a lab. It can only come from donors.
The whole visit takes about an hour, but the blood draw itself only takes about 10 minutes.
You can give whole blood every 56 days.
Blood helps people with cancer, accident and burn victims, new moms, and people having surgery.

Can I donate?

In Texas, you can usually donate at 17, or at 16 with a signed parent permission form.
You need to weigh at least 110 pounds and feel healthy on the day you donate.
Bring a photo ID.
Some medicines, recent travel, tattoos, or illnesses may mean you need to wait. The blood center will ask you questions to keep you and patients safe.

Rules can change and differ by blood center. Check with the center before you go.

What you can do today

Find a blood drive or donation center near you. See our Get Help page for the Abilene center.
Drink extra water and eat a healthy meal before you donate.
Eat foods with iron in the days before, like beans, spinach, red meat, and iron-fortified cereal.
After you donate, have a snack, drink fluids, and skip heavy lifting for the rest of the day.
Bring a friend or family member and donate together.

Check first if

You've fainted or felt very dizzy after giving blood before.
You have a heart, lung, or blood condition, or you're being treated for cancer.
You've been told you have low iron (anemia).
You're pregnant or just had a baby.
You're not sure if a medicine you take is okay. Call the blood center or ask your doctor.

From trusted health sites

Up-to-date info about blood donation from U.S. government health websites.

Helpful links

Hand-picked pages from trusted health organizations.

Printed from https://chshealthcare.org/topics/blood-donation/ · Know Your Health, Clyde · Clyde High School CmPS 2026–27