Do you know your blood group?

Esspee You must have a small card with date and which vaccine you were given, if indeed you have had a vaccine. they don't just give a vaccine and off you wander with no record of it in your possession.

Alishka

I'm the Universal 0 positive. My card is in the back of my purse, along with other Essentials - Credit cards, Store cards etc - and now the NHS Covid vaccine card.
@ Suzie, see upthread, where peeps have given explanations

Goodness, what is the NHS Covid vaccine card Alishka? I have had the first dose of vaccine but have nothing to prove that I have.

grandtanteJE65

Yes, I know my blood group and that my blood coagulates very slowly due to my reduced ability to absorb vitamin K.

Our blood group is recorded in the bar code of our health insurance cards here in Denmark and any doctor will tell you what it is if you ask.

It is of course illegal here to give a blood transfusion without first checking the patient's blood group. Surely that is still the case in the UK? It certainly used to be.

That’s a good system but of course we don’t have that. My link explains what happens in an emergency. If I had a particular concern about my blood type and was a real worrier I’d wear a Medic-Alert bracelet or pendant. DH does for his T1 diabetes as I’ve always worried about him having a hypo and being thought of as just a drunk. Yes I know it relies on his being checked but it’s better than nothing

If it really mattered we’d all have it tattooed on our foreheads ?

Please yourself then, suziewoozie.

They took blood from me in the ambulance and it was tested in the time it took to get me on to an operating table and take my clothes off.

I can have any kind of blood, but I still had it checked when I had a heart attack and a stent was fitted in an emergency. It didn't take long.

Yes, I know my blood group and that my blood coagulates very slowly due to my reduced ability to absorb vitamin K.

Our blood group is recorded in the bar code of our health insurance cards here in Denmark and any doctor will tell you what it is if you ask.

It is of course illegal here to give a blood transfusion without first checking the patient's blood group. Surely that is still the case in the UK? It certainly used to be.

No one will ever be given blood without it being 'cross matched' to make sure that no reaction occurs. A medical professional would never take a blood group as provided by the patient.

In an emergency there are fluids such as Haemaccel which will be given until the cross matched blood is available. And indeed as a totally last resort, Group 0 can be given, but that would be avoided if at all possible.

Here’s what happens

www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhae/article/PIIS2352-3026(17)30051-0/fulltext

How on earth could a system rely on a card in the back of a wallet in a handbag left behind in the crashed car or on a patients recollection of their blood type on admission ? If it really mattered we’d all have it tattooed on our foreheads ?

I'm the Universal 0 positive. My card is in the back of my purse, along with other Essentials - Credit cards, Store cards etc - and now the NHS Covid vaccine card.
@ Suzie, see upthread, where peeps have given explanations

A+. Don't know when I found out. I've known for years now.

It really doesn’t add up that we need to know - if we’re brought in unconscious in an emergency needing blood surely they have protocols?

suziewoozie

dragonfly46

Suzie it matters if you are Negative. If you are given Positive blood it produces antibodies. I carry a card at all times.

No one will give you blood without checking

Hmm. You're bleeding to death after a car accident? Time to check your blood group?

I don't know, to be honest. Perhaps someone with more medical knowledge than me can say. Is there a rapid test available?

Checking takes time. If you need an emergency transfusion, speed could be vital. It is something worth knowing - if you have an allergy you probably carry a card to say so, and being Rhesus negative is similar as having an allergy to Rhesus positive blood.

As for Redhead not being told the blood groups of her children - why ever not? She would have been told if they had allergies.

suziewoozie

It really doesn’t matter - why would it?

I think it does matter. If you're Rh Negative you should be given plasma if you need an emergency blood transfusion (if you've been in an accident, say). At least, that's what it says on the card I've carried round with my driver's licence for the last 40+ years. I'm A Rh negative.

It was also needed to be known when you were pregnant because:

www.nct.org.uk/pregnancy/tests-scans-and-antenatal-checks/rhesus-negative-blood-and-pregnancy-what-you-need-know

Apparently in a life threatening situation they give O negative.

I'm AB+. I'm a universal recipient, but hardly anybody else can have my blood, which is why the Blood Transfusion Service won't even take AB+ blood from females they can't even use my plasma in case it was contaminated when I was pregnant.

dragonfly46

Suzie it matters if you are Negative. If you are given Positive blood it produces antibodies. I carry a card at all times.

No one will give you blood without checking

Here you are - now you can stop fretting ?

www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/operations-tests-and-procedures/how-can-i-find-out-my-blood-type-blood-group/

Yes O positive known since I entered Malaysia to live in 1965 you had to carry an identity card with it on

Suzie it matters if you are Negative. If you are given Positive blood it produces antibodies. I carry a card at all times.

I do know both my children are Positive though as I had to have an injection after each of them.

Yes, I know mine, but I’m a blood donor. Don’t know if I would know otherwise.

I am A positive. I found out many years ago when I donated blood regularly.

It really doesn’t matter - why would it?