Question

 Your friend has been rushed to the hospital due to a car accident. At the hospital, physicians determined the amount of blood loss via hematocrit determination. Answer the following questions below regarding this scenario.

 Your friends hematocrit was determined to be 40% - Your friend is a healthy 28-yr old male. Explain to him in simple language what it means to have a hematocrit of 40%.

 At the hospital, over the course of time, your friend has lost more blood and requires a blood transfusion. Your friend is AB+ blood type, while you're O blood type - would you be a possible candidate for a blood transfusion in this specific scenario? Explain your reasoning

Answer 1

First Part:

Percentage of hematocrit value tells the proportion of red blood cells that is present in the whole blood. Thus 40% of hematocrit means that volume of red blood cells is 40% in the whole blood. Normal hematocrit range for adult males is varied between 42%-54%.

Second Part:

Note: It is not clear if your blood type is O- or O+. But in either case you can donate your blood for blood transfusion. It is explained below.

In AB type blood both antigen A & antigen B is present. Thus no antibody is produced by the body against those antigens. In O type blood no antigen (antigen A & antigen B) is present. Thus when O type blood is given to a person who has AB type blood no transfusion reaction occur & blood transfusion can successfully occur. Now RBC can contain Rh antigen on their surface. When Rh antigen is present it is called Rh positive blood (Denoted by a '+' sign after blood group) & absence of it called Rh negative blood (Denoted by a '-' sign after blood group). Now, a person who has Rh positive blood (such as AB+ in this case) produce no antibodies against Rh antigen. Also Rh negative blood (such as O-) doesn't contain any Rh antigen on the surface of RBC. Due to this factor a person who has Rh positive blood can receive both Rh positive & Rh negative blood. Thus I can be a possible candidate for a blood transfusion in this specific scenario.