Blood transfusion at the time of the First World War – practice and promise at the birth of transfusion medicine

Abstract

The centenary of the start of the First World War has stirred considerable interest in the political, social, military and human factors of the time and how they interacted to produce and sustain the material and human destruction in the 4 years of the war and beyond. Medical practice may appear distant and static and perhaps seems to have been somewhat ineffectual in the face of so much trauma and in the light of the enormous advances in medicine and surgery over the last century. However, this is an illusion of time and of course medical, surgical and psychiatric knowledge and procedures were developing rapidly at the time and the war years accelerated implementation of many important advances. Transfusion practice lay at the heart of resuscitation, and although direct transfusion from donor to recipient was still used, Geoffrey Keynes from Britain, Oswald Robertson from America and his namesake Lawrence Bruce Robertson from Canada, developed methods for indirect transfusion from donor to recipient by storing blood in bottles and also blood-banking that laid the foundation of modern transfusion medicine. This review explores the historical setting behind the development of blood transfusion up to the start of the First World War and on how they progressed during the war and afterwards. A fresh look may renew interest in how a novel medical speciality responded to the needs of war and of post-war society.

The future of voluntary blood donation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“…The committee waged a publicity campaign in TV, radio, and newspapers, in addition to displaying posters all around the city of Riyadh (population at that time <3 million), inviting healthy individuals to donate their blood at any nearby HBB. War again proved to be a very strong motivating stimulus for blood donation . The response of the public was phenomenal, and all blood banks stocked blood to the maximum their storage facility could take.…”

“…War again proved to be a very strong motivating stimulus for blood donation. 18,19 The response of the public was phenomenal, and all blood banks stocked blood to the maximum their storage facility could take.…”

Optimizing whole blood storage: hemostatic function of 35‐day stored product in CPD, CP2D, and CPDA‐1 anticoagulants

“…T he use of whole blood (WB) for treatment and prevention of hemorrhagic shock has its roots in the battlefields of World War I, 1 when citrated WB transfusions proved to be an effective strategy for treatment of the most severely injured combat casualties. 2,3 WB use by the military in the early 20th century established the beginnings of the "walking blood bank" concept through widespread usage of fresh whole blood (FWB) collected during combat. WB use by the military has continued throughout every major conflict since World War I, 4 but since Vietnam the use of WB has declined in favor of component therapy.…”

The donors perceived positive and negative effects of blood donation

“…Maintaining a strong and healthy donor population has been a mainstay of blood services since World War I, where blood transfusions saved many soldiers' lives . In 1937, the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) was founded to meet the need for sharing and developing ideas and research to ensure safe blood products and maintaining a steady and constant donor population.…”