The pint of blood you donate is usually split into several parts to meet the needs of different patients. For example, your platelets may give a child with leukemia a chance to live, while your red cells may help an accident victim get well. Your single donation can help several patients.

Giving blood is simple and easy. You can expect to follow four steps: registration, medical history, donation and snacks. The actual blood donation takes less than 15 minutes and is painless except for the initial stick (similar to having your blood drawn) at the very start. The entire process, from when you sign in to the time you leave, takes about 45 minutes.

There is no substitute for human blood. Human blood cannot be manufactured; animal blood cannot replace it. People are the only source of blood. Much of today's medical care depends on a steady supply of blood provided by healthy donors. The gift of blood is the gift of life.

It is very important to complete the blood-donor forms honestly. People who should not donate need to identified before the blood is taken. All information given by the donor is treated confidentially.

There is no risk of getting AIDS or any other disease from giving blood. A brand-new needle is used for each blood donation. Once it is used, the needle is destroyed.

Volunteers now provide virtually all of the nation's blood supply. This represents a huge increase in volunteer donations over the past 20 years. People donate blood out of a sense of duty and community spirit, not to make money.

Many tests must be done before blood can be used. For emergencies, there is no time to collect, test, and process the blood from friends. Having enough blood on hand when we need it is possible only if healthy volunteers donate blood regularly.

For planned surgery, it is often possible to donate your own blood ahead of time so that it will be available for your operation if needed. It also may be possible for a surgeon to collect blood from a wound during an operation and return it to the patient. Both are forms of autologous transfusion. It is the safest kind of transfusion, but most patients needing blood cannot provide their own. Therefore, there remains a great need for healthy people to donate blood for others. For information on whether you can donate blood for your own use, ask your doctor.

The risk of getting unsafe blood from a transfusion has been greatly reduced. Blood collection centers help to protect the blood supply by constantly improving safety measures. For example, they:

• Inform donors about high-risk behaviors and conditions that are not safe for blood donation
• Allow anyone to indicate confidentially that their blood should not be used for the general blood supply
• Take a medical history to check that donors are healthy
• Collect blood using sterile methods under medical supervision
• Test blood for certain diseases

Giving blood will not decrease your strength. Your body won't miss the one pint of blood you donate. Healthy donors can give blood as often as every eight weeks. If all blood donors gave at least twice a year, it would greatly strengthen the nation's blood supply.

The risk of getting AIDS from blood transfusions provided by volunteers is extremely low. Estimated risk is less than one in 2 million.