BLOOD-GROUPING THE NEW ZEALAND SOLDIER

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 41, 5 April 1940, Page 4

BLOOD-GROUPING THE NEW ZEALAND SOLDIER

VERY New Zealand soldier who goes overseas during this present war will be tested for his blood type. A letter showing the group to which he belongs will be stamped on his identity disc and full particulars will be entered in his paybook. That is only one of the many advances in Army efficiency which have been made since the last war, when blood transfusions came to be used more | and more frequently for soldiers suffering from severe loss of blood or severe shock. During the recent war in Spain, medical men discovered that blood could be kept for three weeks in hermetically sealed flasks. This blood had been taken from donors in the cities and was sent to the firing line where it was kept in cold storage until it was needed. Simple Process Men of the Ist Echelon were tested at the rate of 450 a day. The process is simple. All that happens to the man is that his finger is pricked and a drop of blood taken for the test. As soon as it has been examined for the type and group to which that particular soldier belongs, the blood group letter is stamped on the individual’s identity disc. The practice of blood typing or blood grouping has been adopted by the German Army, and it is understood that the British Army medical authorities have taken the same action. But for the outbreak of influenza in the New Zealand camps, the work of typing our own soldiers would have been done earlier, as Colonel Bowerbank, Director-General of Medical Services, had been considering the adoption of the measure for some time. Now the first of the grouping has been done.

The " Universal Donor " It is perhaps not generally known that human blood is divided into groups. Every person belongs to one or another of those groups, although individual members of one family may not belong to the same group. In cases where blood transfusion is deemed necessary, that blood must be taken from a person in the same group as the patient. There are exceptions, as there is one type which is known as the "universal donor." His blood can be given to any patient. Blood transfusion is a comparatively simple process which can be carried out even at advanced dressing stations on the scene of action. During the last war, this was done with increasing success and towards the end of the campaign it became a _ recognised therapeutic measure. It is however dangerous to use blood from a donor other than that group to which the patient belonged. Therefore it is necessary that the group of both donor and patient be known. This, then, is the reason for knowing

in advance the blood group of every soldier serving with the forces. The work of grouping the blood types is done by specially qualified physicians, Specialists in all branches of the medical profession are to be found in the New Zealand Medical Corps, so

those with the necessary qualifications did the work. Should a blood transfusion be necessary on active service, the medical officer has only to examine the identity disc of the soldier to know to which group he belongs and to find a suitable donor of the same type. More than that, if a donor is not available instantly, blood of the same type from cold storage can be used immediately. That is one of the great life-saving discoveries of comparatively recent times.