The Therapy of the Cook County Hospital

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

“…In America, where distances encourage self‐reliance and entrepreneurism, some blood donor panels were paid to donate, although the American Red Cross and other non‐profit organisations also established voluntary panels. The world's first so‐called ‘Blood Bank’ was established at Cook County Hospital in 1937 (Fantus, ).…”

Transfusion medicine as a profession: evolution over the past 50 years

“…In his 1937 article in JAMA he describes his oversight of collection, storage, and transfusion indications. Hence, he was also the birth of the blood bank and transfusion service medical director 1 . In 1963, the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association adopted the position that blood banks that procure human blood and its transfusion are required to be under the direction and supervision of a physician 2 .…”

Russia's National Research Center for Hematology: its role in the development of blood banking

“…In North America, few being aware of the Soviet work, we have credited Dr. Bernard Fantus of Cook County Hospital in Chicago with the concept in 1937 of the “blood bank.” 5,6 What Fantus did, however, was to apply the principles of financial banking to blood transfusion, that is, deposits, credits, and withdrawals of blood as needed for anticipated and unanticipated transfusions. In fact, the same functions (without the name or the idea of ownership of credits) had already been instituted not only by the Russians, 4 but also by certain army medical units in World War I 7 .…”