There are four main blood types A, B, AB and O in the ABO blood group system.
Platelets are made in the bone marrow and survive in the circulatory system for an average of 9 to 10 days before being removed from the body by the spleen.
The platelet is vital to life, because it helps prevent both massive blood loss resulting from trauma and blood vessel leakage that would otherwise occur in the course of normal day-to-day activity.
Find out about giving a platelet donation through a process called apheresis.
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