Individuals who want to donate whole blood or apheresis must be : At least 16 years old (donors under the age of 17 may only donate whole blood, and must have a signed parental/guardian consent form). At least 19 years old and weigh a minimum of 110 pounds.
Your heart handles blood in much the same way. The heart pumps about 2,000 gallons (7,571 liters) of blood a day through its chambers. Of Â­course, we're not big enough to hold that much liquid, so it just pumps the same blood over and over, and it doesn't benefit from a drop of it. At least, not initially.
First, when the rateâs that fast, the heart canât efficiently empty the blood from its chambers. Second, those chambersâ pumping rhythms can get out of sync. (Normally your atria pump blood to your ventricles, which pump it out milliseconds later. You can hear that when you listen through a stethoscope.