Don't be silly. You state in your page about blood types that people should know what their blood type is just in case they have a medical emergency. No doctor is ever going to take a patient's word for that particular a piece of information. Blood typing & crossmatch takes a matter of minutes, and will always be performed on the spot before a patient is given blood. If there isn't time, O- will be given until the true blood type can be determined.

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Alice,

I appreciate your answer to the question. It has explained blood type to me better than anyone ever has before. And I've been an RN for 21 years. The comments made after your submission should be ignored. My nephew had surgery this year and they didn't do a blood x/match. If he had lost a lot of blood during surgery, they may not have had time to get a type/match on him. Thanks for your explanations.

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(3)
Dear Alice

This was a very helpful explanation. I am in my first year of Medical Laboratory Technology and I was too embarrassed to ask my teacher because we had already gone over this info and I didn't want to appear stupid in front of my classmates. While I am sure it is helpful to know your type, it is even better if you carry a donor card stating your type because should the situation arise where you can't answer for yourself, it can.