He's no blue blood, but it's still worth something.

January 7, 2008 9:29 AM

What's the value of blood donations? Is some blood worth more than other blood?

My partner has been a blood donor for half of his life, and recently he's been classified as a "rare donor". Apparently his blood is perfect for some baby, so he only donates when asked to (as opposed to quarterly like before). He's noticed that since he became a "rare donor", the people at the blood bank have been nicer to him and he thinks it's because they get more money for his blood than a normal donation. I wonder if this is actually true. Would extend to normal donations, such that a donor with O- would bring more money to the blood bank than AB+?

I think he's sort of crazy, but he has got me wondering and it's starting to bug me. I did read this Freakonomics blog post about blood donation, but it is more about compensation for donors and less about the actual value of the bood.

posted by kendrak to Health & Fitness (14 answers total)

Whether or not they literally get paid more for the O- blood, it does have more utility than AB+ would, so it would make sense that they would encourage him. Also, if he's a blood donor who appears on request, then of course they would want to maintain a positive relationship with him. Even if no more money than usual is changing hands, he provides something of great value, and since he's a regular face at the hospital, it makes every bit as much sense to treat him well as it would to treat the custodial staff, delivery people, window washers, nurses, doctors, and other people who help make the hospital work. He's not on the payroll, but in his own way he's a part of the team.

Also, your partner is doing a good thing. People are nice to people who do good things!
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:35 AM on January 7, 2008

There are some ultra-rare blood types such as Bombay blood that would probably be interesting in this regard. People with Bombay blood can only recieve blood from donors with Bombay blood, and no one else, and, in the case of a medical emergency where blood was needed, there'd only be a very small number of people that could provide it. I'm not sure if money is any factor in this, but, given the scarcity of these rare blood types, urgency in medical situations may play a factor, if he only donates blood on request.
posted by yeoz at 9:38 AM on January 7, 2008

I got his up with that, "You're very important, you've got a blood type that can be given to babies" crap too. I asked my doctor what that meant, and he said yes, relatively speaking it is rare, as in only 40% of people with my blood type have it. Rare as in, less than half.

They use the babies angle as a way to guilt/cajole you into donating.
posted by grumpy at 9:40 AM on January 7, 2008

IANABB (I am not a blood banker) but I am a donor, a former Red Cross volunteer, and my mom is a BB. :)

I am a CMV neg donor (which I suspect your partner may be) and I believe CMV neg blood is used for preemies who need transfusions. I haven't noticed people being nicer to me though. before my grandfather passed away he donated about every 8 weeks so the Red Cross folks were always friendly with him, presumably because he was a regular.

Also, I think that the folks with AB or B or other rarer types are wanted at least as much if not more than O neg folk. I may call MamaStick and ask.
posted by pointystick at 9:40 AM on January 7, 2008

CMV assays are part of the standard screening for non-directed blood donation (donations not specified for a particular patient) in the U.S. CMV-negative donations are then earmarked for transfusion to infants or immunocompromised patients. Some blood donation centers maintain lists of donors whose blood is CMV negative due to special demands. [wikipedia]
posted by yeoz at 9:45 AM on January 7, 2008

My high school science teacher told us that he had AB blood - not sure if he was AB- or AB+, or if there were other factors that made his blood even more rare. But he told us that every now and that he would get a call requesting that he come in to donate, and they would compensate him. I'd never heard of that, but he said as long as they called to ask, he would go in and donate and never took any money.
posted by peep at 9:46 AM on January 7, 2008

Not sure about monetary value, but it's my understanding that some blood types are in higher demand than others.

I've been told that my blood type (B+) is rare among Caucasians, but common among Asians - however, statistics show that Asian blood donors are uncommon, thus B+ blood is always in high demand.

I'm not certain if this really is fact, or just the line they use to get me to donate more frequently! And when I do donate, they are always *incredibly* nice to me - I've always figured thatwas a way to insure that I'd come back with more of my not-so-common blood.
posted by chez shoes at 10:15 AM on January 7, 2008

I work for a blood center, so here are my two cents. Of course I can only speak from my experiences at this center. No, in our case, we don't get "more money" for one type of donation over another. We are actually a nonprofit and charge fees for testing, transportation, storage, etc. - not for the actual blood.

While I don't understand the thing about them "being nicer" - maybe they are, or maybe he's just perceiving it that way - we are more aggressive about recruiting donors with higher-demand blood types just because we know the supply has to be there. Even though it's on the opposite end of the spectrum, the same is true of "rare" types. (CMV-, for the record, is not "rare" but it's not something everyone has.) But the bottom line is, all types of blood are equally valuable to the people who need it.

So does he donate less frequently now? I would encourage him to keep donating quarterly. Sure, his blood type may be specially suited to a baby that requires CMV- blood, but I don't believe that makes it any less useful to other patients who don't have such specific needs.
posted by Ruby Doomsday at 10:48 AM on January 7, 2008

To add a data point, CMV-negative blood is also used in open-heart surgery on newborns; in some instances we also use fresh whole blood if available. Our hospital has a list of donors that they call if a big surgery is scheduled on a newborn. In some of these operations there is enough bleeding afterward that we essentially replace the babies blood with donor blood, sometimes more than once. We also have to be extra careful with what blood we give some babies with congenital heart defects because minor type mismatches that can usually be ignored can result in antigen formation that will make a transplant down the road more difficult (we filter out white blood cells for that reason). So despite what some say it is not just a ploy to guilt you into donating more, there are good medical reasons why some people's blood is better for babies than others. If your friend asks on his next trip to the blood bank I am sure they would explain in more detail.
posted by TedW at 10:59 AM on January 7, 2008

Who has a great and easy to understand link about blood types? I'm AB-, but because of a heart condition I've been advised to NOT donate. Please educate me.
posted by TomMelee at 11:06 AM on January 7, 2008

Here's a comprehensive list (pdf) from the NY Blood Center on who can and can't give blood.
posted by vacapinta at 11:15 AM on January 7, 2008

TomMelee--my guess is that your heart condition may increase your risk from donation and that your actual blood type is not an issue. A lot of information can be found on Wikipedia, at the Red Cross, and the American Association of Blood Banks websites.

To simply explain a little about blood types, they are proteins (the main ones are A and B and some people have neither or O) on your blood cells that are inherited from your parents. If you don't have a particular protein you most likely have antibodies to it, and if you are transfused with that blood those antibodies will react to it with potentially fatal consequences. There is a lot more to it than that, but that is the gist of it.
posted by TedW at 11:17 AM on January 7, 2008

Roger--promise not to thread hijack here. I know it's the condition that makes it bad for me to donate, not the blood type---I had just heard that AB- was rare-ish. I've tried to understand before, but I will again. Thanks!
posted by TomMelee at 12:31 PM on January 7, 2008

I'm a blood banker (on occasion) so I'll hazard a few guesses:
1. He's CMV- (although about 15% of the pop is CMV neg) and a lot of centers (mine for example) have gone to a CMV negative equivalency with pre-storage leukocyte reduction.
2. He's AB. We specifically have to transfuse neonates/infants with group specific platelets because with their limited whole body blood volume they can be affected by the small volume of serum (containing ABO antibodies) for out of group platelets, thus exposing them to hemolysis risk.
3. He's something really rare like Bombay (mentioned above) or p phenotype. I think that the Red Cross puts those folks on the speed dial.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 6:06 PM on January 7, 2008