Blood Clot Awareness Month
Take Action During March for Blood Clot Awareness Month (March 1-31)
Each year, blood clots affect an estimated 900,000 people in the U.S., claim about 100,000 lives, and remain a leading cause of preventable hospital death. Prevention, early recognition, and effective treatment save lives—and everyone has a role to play.
Who can make a difference?
Patient Community: Survivors | Caregivers | Families
Share your story or your loved one’s story to help others recognize symptoms and seek timely care. Learn your risk factors, know the signs of DVT and PE, and connect with support. Your voice can change someone’s outcome.
Share, support, and advocate — your story is your strength.
Health Care Community: Clinicians | Researchers | Hospitals | Medical Societies
Blood clots can affect anyone, regardless of age or appearance. Challenge your assumptions about what a blood clot patient looks like, listen to patients, provide resources, thoroughly investigate symptoms, and explore new treatments to ensure better outcomes.
Collaborate, educate, and take action — your commitment saves lives.
Broader Public: Citizens | Elected Officials | Community Organizations
Blood clots are more common than many realize, and they can be deadly, but they’re preventable. Learn your risk, share symptoms and prevention tips, and help spread awareness throughout March and beyond.
Take action, inform others, and help create a safer, healthier world.
Ways to take action year-round
• Learn and share: Review risks and symptoms; circulate NBCA’s educational resources and patient stories.
• Talk to your care team: If you’re hospitalized or recovering, ask about blood clot prevention and what to watch for after discharge.
• Support the community: Attend an NBCA PEP Talk webinar, listen to our podcast, host an awareness event, or start a fundraiser.
• Honor and remember: Add a tribute for a loved one and help others feel less alone.
• Stay active safely: Movement supports recovery and prevention. Choose activities (like our annual Fun Run for World Thrombosis Day) that fit your abilities and talk with your clinician if you’re unsure.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why is it important to raise blood clot awareness?
- Every year, more than 100,000 people die from blood clots in the U.S. Yet, blood clots are often preventable and can be safely treated when caught in time.
- Less than 6% of Americans know what blood clots are and how to prevent them, yet they affect as many as 900,000 Americans every year.
- Every six minutes in the U.S., someone dies of a blood clot, or 274 people per day.
- The overall incidence of venous blood clots is up to 60% higher in Black patients compared to white patients.
- A blood clot in the lung is one of the most common causes of pregnancy-related death in the U.S.
- Blood clots are the second leading cause of death in cancer patients, aside from cancer itself.
How did Blood Clot Awareness Month start?
In 2003, while covering the war in Iraq for NBC News, journalist David Bloom died of a blood clot that formed in his leg and traveled to his lungs.
In memory of Bloom, a U.S. Senate bill in 2005, sponsored by Arlen Specter (R-PA), declared March Deep Vein Thrombosis Awareness Month.
In 2009, Representatives Lois Capps (D-CA) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) came together in an bipartisan effort to reinforce March as a time to focus on blood clots. Capps’ husband Walter died of a pulmonary embolism (PE) in 2006, and a friend and mentor of McMorris Rodgers, Rep. Jennifer Dunn, died of a PE in 2007.
Why is it called Blood Clot Awareness Month?
In 2010, NBCA conducted a nationwide survey that showed that 82% of the general population understood the term “blood clot,” while only 21% knew the meaning of “deep vein thrombosis (DVT)” and 16% knew the meaning of “pulmonary embolism (PE).”
This was a problem, as the month was named Deep Vein Thrombosis Awareness Month, but it was not catching on.
As a result, NBCA officially commemorated March as Blood Clot Awareness Month in 2013, and we’ve been marking it every year since.
