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.
The heart is a muscular pump that pushes blood through blood vessels around the body. Essential to life, the heart beats continuously, pumping the equivalent of more than 14,000 litres of blood every day. Blood vessels form the living system of tubes that carry blood both to and from the heart.