Needed every day

Blood is needed every day, and no one knows it better than the paramedics and air ambulance crew from the 'Be There' advert we shared in summer.

Back in July 2025, keen volunteers from the London Ambulance Service and London's Air Ambulance Charity participated in our advert, replicating a scene of a dramatic nighttime traffic accident.

The advert calls on the public to join the lifesaving ranks of blood donors. Every minute, the NHS needs 3 lifesaving blood donations and right now we need 200,000 more people to sign up as blood donors, including those with the rare B negative blood type and Ro subtype.

It is O negative, however, that is used by emergency services like those featured in the advert.

"When treating emergencies on the roadside the person's blood type will be unknown," says Jason Morris, lead paramedic at London's Air Ambulance Charity. "It's important that we have lots of blood available to us, especially O negative.

"O negative is the universal blood type that can be given to anyone."

Although it's O negative that is used in emergencies, it's vitally important to maintain safe levels of all other blood groups, too. You can find out more about the demand for different blood types here.

While on set filming the advert, we gathered Jason's thoughts on how blood donations are used in his and his colleagues' everyday working life in emergencies.

Watch the video below: