BLOOD TRANSFUSION SERVICE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 141, 2 July 1937, Page 6

BLOOD TRANSFUSION SERVICE

Organisation of Voluntary Donors in H.B. MOVEMENT LAUNCHED A well-attended meeting was held at Lhc Public Hospital for the purpose of settiug up a branch of the National Blood Transfusion Conncil. Mr Clarence Meachen, honoraTy secretary of the council, addressing the meeting, said that the council was an association of voluntary donors to bospitals, both public and private. "The term 'blood transfusion,' " he said, "means the aetual transference of the blood of one person to the eirculation of another, and I will try to give you some idea of the immense value which this operation now has in mocern medicine and surgery. Attompts do blood transfusion had been made .for 300 years, but were unsuccessful chiefly because it was so difficult tp prevent the blood from clotting. The blood of animals was used in the first experiments, these were started in England by Sir Ghristopher Wren, a scientist and architect. One of the earliest transfusions upon a human being was actually witnessed by Samuel Pepys, the diarist, in 1667. On this occasion the blood of a calf was transfused into a poor Bachelor of Divinity, of whom Pepys remarks 'that he was tiracked a little in his head.' No results of any value were obtained, and it is now khown that to transfuso an animal's blood into ' a man is very dangerous ahd it is never done. The operations was f orbidden in Paris even in the seventeenth century, on the ground that the man who received a calf's or sliecp's blood might begin to grow homs." '

During the nineteenth century, con tinued Mr Meachen, attempts were made to tfansfer blood from one person to another by means of a syringe. In 1857, the c^ise of a woman was reported, who w'as in a very weak- state as the result, it was believed, of feeding a pair of twins for too long a period. She was-. given tweive ounces of blood from another healthy woman. Soon af terwards she had a shivering attack and this* was f ollowed by a state of reaction and excitement, during which she sang a hymn in a loud voice. She then rapidly recovered. , Experiments In War « At the begiuning of the present century blood transfusion was performed by actually joining the artery in one person 'a wrist to a vein in another 'sarm, but the operation often failed altogether, and even if it were successful it was impossible to know how mueh blood had passed from one to the other. If the donor's blood were received into a vessel it would, of course, very soon clot, , and so could not be passed on to the ^patient. It was, therefore necessary to> iind some substance, which when mixed with blood would prevent it'from clotting but woiild be harmiess to the patient. Tt was only in 1914 that citrate of sodium was discovered to possess these properties, and this discovery ;just came in time for use during the Great War. The War was the greatest experiinent in bloodletting that had ever been made, and the lives of a great number of soldiers were saved solely by the transfusion into ' their veins of some of tho blood of their more fortunate eompanions. It was said that there was no more satisfactory or dramatic sight in the whole rank of surgery than to see a man at the point of death from loss of blood, being rapidly dragged back to life, the colour returning' to his lips and cheeks in the course of a few minutes. . "Knowledge . of blood trans-fusion gained during the War," said the speaker, "has been turned to very good account during times of peace, for there are many occasions in civil life when transfusion is of the greatest value. A new kind of warfare has unfortunately arisen, the war between traffic and pedestrians, too many of whom fall victims in the unequal contest. Our public and private hospitals were constantly called upon * to treat the victims of all kinds of serious accidents, and blood transfusion is often the means of saving their lives. Many . forms of illness, too, result in serious loss of blood. Ulceration of the stomach is one of the commonest examples of this, -and is a disease in which blood transfusion is of the greatest use, as it . is possible by this means to prevent the- patient from dying of loss of blobd and also to make him fit and endure an irnmediate operation which may be necessary to cnre him. Again, many women have only come safely through the dangers, of childbirth with the help of a blood transfusion, and a number of severe operations can only be performed when the patient has been fortified bel'orehand by a transfusion. These few exampies will serve to illustrate the immense value of blood transfusion." Use of Police Force It was obvious, Ire said, that the treatment of a patient by transfusion demanded the presence oi a blood douor who was willing to part with as xnuch blood as might be required, and that was approximately one pint. Sometimes a, lrielrd or relation was available, but, often no one. of this kind could b® found: It was at one time suggested that the Police Force might be used as a source of Supply, but it was ojjviously impossible for a police sergeaat to permit liis men to be taken off duty at any moment for that purpose. The pohceman's lot was said not to be a happy one, and it would be putting a rather severe strain on his already almost superhuman benevolence to expect him to give his blood to all who needed it. For the ^past five years an organisation had existed in Wellington which undertook to provide voluntary duuors at short notice. They were willing to go to any hospital where they were required at any time of the day or night, and during the past tweive months, 201 donors represented with tho blood transfusion serviee were the First Wellington CHty Rovers (Senior Boy Scouts), members of Toc H., the New Zealand Pioneers, the St. John

Ambulance Brigade, Returried Soldier8* 'AsBociption, Imperial Overseas Legion of Frontiersmen, Y.M.C.A., ' Girl*' Friendly Society, Wellington Aero Club, and many unattached person*. "AlthougE. so many donors- have already given their blood, the deinand always tends to exceed the supply, and more donors are urgently needed. There can be no doiibt that there are nuinbers of youiig men and women, who would be willing to act as donors, if they understood how great are the. benefits they would confer and how little they would themselves suffer by the operation. A blood donor is not performing an act of heroism as he is incurring no risk whatever. He is instead performiug a generous act and personal serviee at the cost of slight inconveniehce to himself. The body of a healthy adult contains approximately 10 piiita of blood. He can part with more than a pint of this without feeling any ill eff'ects, and the blood is withdrawn painlessly by puncturing a vein. He must rest for a short period after giving the blood, but by the next day many blood donors actually feel better for the operation. After all, bloodletting is one of the oldest'tberapeutio measures known to medical science and it was not used for so many centurie* altogether in vain." On one occasion, said Mr Meachen, one donor was used twice in one day, taking over 30 ounces of her blood, equal to 1} pints. In Wellington 61 of donors had served for the first time, 33 for the second, 32 third, 19 fourth, 19 fifth, 12 sixth, seven seventh, and one for the twelfth time. During the war in France, the supply of blood donors was unlimjted. That might possibly have been influences by the fact that each donor was aliowed a month's extra leave at home, but it was at any rate evidence that the loss of blood entailed was not regarded as a source of danger t0 the individual. He was certainly able ,to enjoy his leave . to the full. That might encourage donors to volunteer as freely in times of peace though it .was not possible to offer him any actual reward except an

increase in self-respect. Character in Blood There was a widespread belief even at the present time. that something of a man's character would be conveyed by his .bloodi The belief was an old one, for Samuel Pepys suggested that it would be amusing to try the experiment of transfusing/the blood of » Quaker into the veins of an Archbishop. But actually there was no danger of any transference of character by that means. _No prospective , donor need hesitate therefore, to offer his . services on account of any imperfection in his character of. which he -might be conscious. A drunkard would not' be reformed even by receiving the 'blood of a total abstainer. ■ ■ ' . ! "It ' is necessary to explain why. a blood transfusion. serviee must.be carefully organised," said the speaker. "In every European community the individuals can bo divided into four different groups, according to the properties of their blood. These properties have no relation td character 'or to disease, but are inborn qualities as much as are the colour of the hair and pyes. Nevertheless the blood of different groups cannot be mixed incpscriminately, and a patient may die if he is given blood belonging to an uiisuitab.e group. The greatest care must therefore be used. Every prospective blood donor must be testcd for his blood group, and 'this must be xegistered by the organisation. Obviousiy the donor must himself be free from any disease such at malaria, which might be communicated by his blood. The interests of the donors are also to be safeguarded, and certain stipulations as to technique are" mad'e before any institution is aliowed to use the benefits of the transfusion serviee, No donor is used more than totir times a year, though there are many recorded instances of men and women having given blood much more often than tlns without ill effects." - On June 1 a national conference of all medical superintendents of publio hospitals throughout the Dominion was held in Wellington to discuss the setting out of a Dominion organisation, for the purpose of eo-ordinating the efforts of existing societies.' The Hon. Minister of Health, Mr Peter Fraser, attended and stated, "I wish to say how important in the opinion of the Government and of the Health Department is this meeting to-day. The worli that has already been done is almost miraoulous." As a result of that conference, a National Blood Transfusion Council was set up, and it was decided to organise local branches under the auspices oi the St. John Ambulance Association, and the general adininistration ,of branclies would be carried out under the supervision of a local medical cominittee. The work is purely voluntary and" membership is open to all men and women. "In conclusion might 1 say, that there is no glory attached to the blood transfusion services, but only personal gratification which attends the aceomplisliments of a living serviee in tha cause of suffering humanity,'' said Mr Meachen. At the conclusion of his address, Dr J. Foiey, a member of the National Blood Transfusion Council, amplitied Mr Meachen 's remarks, stating that he had attended tlie recent conference of medical superintendents, and that he was whole-liCartcdly behind the movement to establisli a voluntary Blood Transfusion Serviee in Hawke's Bay. The branch will come under the auspices of the Napier Sub-Centre of tbe St. John Ambulance Association, and an appeal is . made to public-spirited citizens to enrol in this humanitariau work. Inquiries should be made to tlie honorary secretary, Mr J. H. Maleolm, F.Q. Box,24l, Napier, who will be glad to forward details to those desirious of offering their services.