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Introduction Emergency donor panels (EDPs) provide a source of prescreened whole blood donors when there is a requirement for transfusion with no other sources of blood available. Transfusion of group O blood with a low titre of anti-A and anti-B haemolysins (OLO) reduces the risk of haemolytic transfusion reactions. There has been no large-scale investigation of UK service persons (SPs) with OLO blood. The aim of the current study was to investigate the proportion of UK SPs with OLO blood available for donation over a 5-year period and to identify proportion and reasons for deferral of donors at screening.Methods A retrospective observational study was undertaken reviewing the UK Centre of Defence Pathology EDP screening database between May 2019 and April 2024. Potential donors completed a questionnaire to determine suitability for donation, and if unsuitable, were deferred. Data obtained included EDP date, ABO group, rhesus status, antibody screen results, infectious disease serology and donor questionnaire outcomes (if deferred, the reason for this).Results There were 121 EDP screening sessions, including 3329 donor screening episodes. There were 582/3329 donors (17.5%) deferred. The most common donor cause was recent tattoos (n=113). After all exclusions, there were 2372 potential donors and 1265 (53.3%) were group O. 14 were excluded because there were no anti-A/anti-B haemolysin titres recorded. 869/1251 (69.5%) of the remaining group O participants had low titres, that is, OLO blood (36.6% of all potential donors). Only 143/1251 (11.4%) of group O participants were both OLO and rhesus negative (6% of all potential donors). There were two activations of EDPs on operations.Conclusions 17.5% of all potential donors were deferred after screening. Of those eligible for donation, 36.6% were OLO but only 6% were OLO and rhesus negative. These data may be used to inform future medical planning for operations.