Blood Transfusions As A Mechanical Solution Essay

As expected, with war comes extensive injuries. During WWI, it took a wounded soldier about 24 hours to travel from the battlefield to a hospital. Many times, the soldiers did not live through that excruciating 24 hours. The wounds inflicted on many soldiers led to the development of new medical techniques and improvements (iWonder 2015). The quickly rising death toll during WWI led to the creation of blood transfusion techniques. Prior to WWI, blood transfusions were nearly impossible without cross-matching blood types. An article published by Medical History argues that, “Though the technique (blood transfusions) caused several deaths, it did save dozens of other men, proving its lifesaving

During the first week of Health Promotion and Caring, we learned about many aspects that are associated with blood transfusions. Blood products, blood typing and compatibility, pre and post transfusion protocol, bedside checks, and transfusion reactions were some

The market of human blood transfusions is broken down into different uses: Elective Surgery, Emergency Surgery and Trauma. However, Hemopure seems to be suitable only for trauma cases due to its characteristics and, again, high price. To understand the reason, it is important to notice that, actually, only 10% of the 500,000 trauma victims receives RBCs “in the field” or at the site of accident, and the remaining 95% of these people does not receive transfusions until they arrive at the hospital. This delay was often cited as a major factor to the 20,000 trauma deaths. Therefore, since the expected market share for Biopure is 25% and assuming that the total blood transfusions remain stable, the potential market size for Hemopure is approximately $350,000,000. This size is based on an average price of $700 multiplied by 2,000,000 units (around 4 blood units are needed for each Trauma case).

Jehovah's witnesses’ faith allows them to seek medical help; however, they do not accept blood transfusions. This belief arises from a biblical passage that states "Only flesh with its soul- its blood-you must not eat (Genesis 9:3-4), "You must not eat the blood of any sort of flesh, because the soul of every sort of flesh is its blood. I will set my face against that person who eats blood...Anyone eating it will be cut off” (Leviticus 17:10, 13-14). These passages are interpreted by Jehovah's witnesses as forbidding the transfusion of any blood products. The following presentation will address legal and ethical issues that can arise from this scenario.

t all began in 1818 according to the Blood Centers of the Pacific the first recorded successful human blood transfusion was accomplished during this era. However due to the lack of knowledge and research, it was followed by many blood transfusion failures. But 80 years later, scientists discovered that our red blood cells are different from one another, which was the cause of many incompatibilities blood transfusions in the 1800's. Due to this four blood types were identified - A, B, AB and O. This discovery revolutionized hematology and led the way for successful blood transfusions.

may refuse surgery, because their teaching is that blood transfusions, even if needed to save a person's life, must not be accepted. Their teaching no blood transfusion is base on four bible passage:

There appears to be a significant movement within the medical community to minimize or eliminate blood transfusions during surgery. 20,21,22 The group: Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood " describe themselves as

In 1667, Jean-Baptiste Denis from France reported transfusing blood from lambs into human, which was later declared illegal. An American physician, from Philadelphia, performed the first human to human blood transfusion but did not report it when he did so in 1795. James Blundell, a british obstetrician, successfully performed a transfusion for a patient with postpartum hemorrhage in 1818 and later performed 10 more and half were successful. In 1840, Samuel Armstrong Lane helped with the first transfusion to treat hemophilia and in 1867, and English surgeon named Joseph Lister used antiseptics to reduce the risk of infections during transfusions. In 1900 an Austrian physician discovered the first 3 human blood groups, A, B, and C that was later renamed O. Hepatitis B was found in blood n 1971 so testing on donor blood began and in 1985, the first blood screening test for HIV was licensed and used in blood banks around the world to protect the supply of blood.

In a publication of the Stanford University School of Medicine, held an article entitled “Against the Flow—What’s Behind the Decline in Blood Transfusions?” The author of that article, Sarah C. P. Williams, stated: “Over the past decade, a growing body of research has revealed that in hospitals around the world, donated blood is used more often, and in larger quantities, than is needed to help patients—both in operating rooms and hospital

Bloodletting is a practice that is believed to have originated in Egypt around 1000 BCE, over 3000 years ago. It involved opening the veins of patients with a blade or leeches to help treat their malady. It was believed to assist the human body in fighting off whatever was ailing it, stemming from the belief that bodily fluids, or humors, had to stay in balance to maintain health. After spreading to Greece, this technique was validated by several leading physicians, including Hippocrates. The “Father of Modern Medicine” likened the practice of bloodletting to menstruation, believing that a woman’s period helped to rid her body of “bad humors”. Following the trend’s spread to the Roman Empire, the physician Galen became the leading researcher on the practice of bloodletting. He created a guide of how to bloodlet, enabling the common citizens to recreate the procedures on themselves and others, rather than going to find a more qualified person.

A number of psychological theories have been used to explore the factors associated with the behaviors of healthcare practitioners, the theory of planned behavior, social cognitive theory, psychological egoism, and etc., These theoretical domains offer a comprehensive list of potentially relevant constructs for the behavior of transfusing (Haack, 2012). They include factors such as local protocols, management policies, resources, and etc,. Blood transfusion is an essential part of healthcare and can improve patient outcomes, however, like most therapies, it is also associated with significant clinical risks. According to scholarly article, “The Ethics of Consent: Theory and Practice,” written by Franking Miller and Alan Wertheimer, it states

Of course transfusion was associated with haemoglobin criteria on admission (p=0.001), and the quantity of packed red cells given was also associated with haemoglobin grouping on admission (p70 g/L that received blood transfusions for upper GI bleeding, suggesting that some physicians are initiating blood transfusions with a more liberal strategy in some circumstances. Given the recent evidence finding that blood transfusions can contribute to increased morbidity and mortality in patients, there are grounds for this audit to be expanded and continued to determine the results of a fuller and in-depth cohort to understand the reasons behind liberal strategies for initiating blood

Blood letting was a common practice used throughout history as a 'cure' for everything from acne, to the plague, to bleeding, and everything in-between! Galen's four humors theory contributed to this idea greatly, with the thought that there were four substances in the body that had to be kept in balance to stay healthy. One of the four substances was blood; if there was too much or too little, they would ill. Blood letting is still used today to treat the blood disorder hemochromatosis, where patients have too much iron in their blood. Now though, phlebotomy is done under safer conditions by medical professionals who remove a portion of blood approximately equal to a blood donation, one pint.

Most of the time, daily pressures and responsibilities force us to overlook how important life is. We rarely take the

Dr. Pai had an answer to that too: he organized a “function” to launch the Blood Bank and his nephew TA Pai gave the first pint of blood with a large group of spectators looking on. The word soon spread that there was nothing painful or dangerous about donating blood.