According to the American Red Cross, every two seconds someone in the United States is in need of blood or blood components. Blood transfusion is a critical and life saving procedure that many patients undergo for a number of reasons including chronic medical conditions including anemia, sickle cell and thalassemia as well as more acute pathologies such as trauma and surgical bleeding. In the United States, blood donation is dependent solely on volunteer donation.

Due to the growing need of blood donation, it is important that hematologists and medical professionals are able to disseminate a deeper understanding of blood and its components to the general public.