GIFTS OF BLOOD

Hokitika Guardian, 27 February 1933, Page 8

GIFTS OF BLOOD

TRANSFUSION'S TO PATIENTS.

SERVICES IN LONDON

An Irishman who goes to London regularly to replenish his. blood supply has undergone transfusion 150 times. At the rate of a pint of blood each time he has thus received about 19 gallons of other person’s blood. The man goes' to London for thetransfusions because he is 'unable to obtain facilities in. his own country. The obscure disease from which he is suffering is one which, without the transfusions', might result in his death within a. comparatively short time. The normal number of blood corpuscles in the human being is calculated to be five million to the cubic millimetre but this ' patient’s supp ] y drops so seriously below normal that he lias have it replenished very frequently —often at intervals of only a fortnight. ' On the other hand, the donor of blood is not injured by his gift. One man is known in Paris to have given 403 transfusions, s«LTS the -"Daily Telegraph. He would probably be ill if lie were to give up now, for lie has become accustomed to replenishing his loss.

The case of the ailing Irishman is an example of tlic increasing dependence of such persons on blood transfusion. Mr Cecil Rowntree, surgeon to the Cancer Hospital, alluded to another 'when lie mentioned the extent to which old people are now relying on blood transfusion when' faced by the necessity of an operation.

Many elderly people arc too weak to linedergo an exploratory operation without a resort to blood transfusion In such cases it has become customary to call in the aid of the London Blood Transfusion Service, the founder and lion, secretary of which is Mr P. L. Oliver.

“Although we are supported magnificently,” Mr Oliver says, “there is o e curious feature. The majority of the people who sacrifice their blood voluntarily for the benefit of others come from the poorer parts of the population. “TWo-thirds of the blood donors in London coine from the poorest districts of 'the East and South-east areas. Most cbme from Hackney. And Woolwich, Homerton; Stratford, Bow, Poplar and Tottenham siippl}’ many more' thaii Kensington, Hampstead, Chelsea, Wimbledon and similar

res id e n tin 1 districts

The “experience has been that the greater the comfort of tile district tin lower is the percentage of blctoddonors. The men who do come forward from the better-class districts are also more apt to withdraw their services than the volunteers from the East and South-east. The obstacles to a continuance of their work —apart from changes' of residence- —are employers, relatives, colleagues and fiancees.

“Notwithstanding difficulties of this kind, the work goes oh. About ‘250 blood-donors •in London retire every year, but between 300 and 400 newcomers take their places' as members of the London Blood Transfusion Service. No call for assistance Ims yet remained unanswered.

“There is' a steady increase ip the work. The number of calls we receive is increasing at the rate of, roughly 400 a year,: and nothing is more inspiriting than the extension of the benefits of transfusion. In regard to rheumatoid arthritis there have been some amazing results. There are patients who, unable to move on entering a hospital, have been enabled to walk out. Pernicious anaemia, of course, frequently necessitates our services. “It is a mistake to suppose that the blood-donor is injured by his sacrifice; in 99 cases out of 100 he may benefit.” Mr Oliver mentioned the case of a man in Paris who would be constitutionally inconvenienced by‘ ceasing to give his blood.

“One of our members has given 46 transfusions, but we do not like to make excesive demands on the time of our • helpers, and the maximum number cf times we call on each donor is four per year.”