IntroductionThere are many important details and information that the healthcare provider should know about the patient before performing any procedure or prescribing any medication. One of these pieces of information is blood type. The first blood types were discovered by Karl Landsteiner in 1901. Landsteiner was studying the fact that some blood transfusions were successful and others could be potentially fatal. He did research in which he demonstrated that one person's serum in some cases led to the clumping of another person's blood cells, but in others clumping did not occur. In his experiments, he discovered three early blood types A, B and O. Later, Landsteiner and American researcher Alexander Wiener discovered a new blood type Rh, reported in 1940 and 1941. (Farhud, 2013) Blood type is defined by presence or absence. of certain antigens on the surface of red blood cells (RBCs) called A, B, O or Rh (D) antigens. Depending on the antigen present on the plasma membrane of red blood cells, certain antibodies will be present in the plasma. Blood type A has antibodies against blood type B. Blood type B contains antibodies against A and blood type O contains antibodies against A and B. Knowing the patient's blood type information is extremely important during a blood transfusion, because antibodies from certain blood groups attack the antigens on the red blood cells of the foreign blood, causing agglutination - clumping of the red blood cells. So, blood cells with A antigen on their surface membrane will be affected by A antibodies, red blood cells with B antigen will react with B antibodies, and red blood cells with Rh antigen will react with Rh antibodies. If a type A recipient receives blood containing A antibodies (types B and O), agglutination will occur and a fatal outcome is possible. It is important that...... middle of paper ......concluded to be AB+. Table 2 summarizes the conclusions drawn from this experiment.Table 2Sample 1 Sample 3 Sample 4 Sample 5Blood Group A+ B+ B- AB+General blood grouping techniques were studied during this laboratory and students became familiar with the groups blood and how to identify them. All members of the study group followed the procedure to avoid cross-contamination and the results are therefore considered accurate. This laboratory provided excellent visualization of agglutination and a better understanding of this process. Overall, blood type has wide application in healthcare settings. Examples may be blood typing done before a blood transfusion, during pregnancies, or blood typing for research and better understanding of blood-related disorders. Such wide application of these techniques makes them important to study by all students who wish to pursue a career in medicine..