The History Of Blood Transfusion

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

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).

Rebecca Jemmett and Pamela Peacock stated in an article called “Medical Contributions of The Great War: Blood Transfusion”, that the first known blood transfusion took place after British physician William Harvey discovered the circulation of blood in 1628. “From that time until World War One, blood transfusions were practiced on humans, dogs, and other animals.” With this achievement, it leads to more ways blood transfusions can be proved useful like animal to animal and animal to person blood transfusions. Blood transfusions have now become more common as a result of the horrors of the First World War. New discoveries and the magnified demand for the practice propelled the procedure forward as time

Plasma is used to keep a healthy blood pressure, supplying proteins for blood clotting and immunity, and serves as the medium for the exchange of vital minerals. It is attained by separating the liquid part of the blood from the cells. Dr. Charles Drew set up a blood plasma system in 1938; he set up a blood bank at Columbia Medical Center by 1939. Drew then discovered that plasma could replace whole blood; this discovery played a huge role during the war in places with severe atrocities. Blood was in high demand in 1940 as war raged across Europe. The International Transfusion Association chose Dr. Drew to organize the Blood for Britain project. This project collected, processed, and transported 14,500 units of plasma within five months. The research of Dr. Drew transformed plasma transfusion so plasma could be given on the battlefield immediately. Dr. Drew was appointed Director of the first American Red Cross Blood Bank in February 1941. This plasma collection and preservation program is a model for today’s blood donation organizations. When the program ended in September 1945, the American Red Cross had gathered over 13 million units of blood and transformed most of it into plasma. By the end of the war, 1.3 million plasma units were returned to the American Red Cross, which were given to civilian hospitals (World War

After graduating college in 1926, Charles Drew was later on enrolled to a medical school-McGill University- in Montreal, Canada, 1928. After studying in several colleges in Canada, Charles Drew returned to the United States and, in 1938, he went to Columbia University where Charles Drew continued exploring blood-related matters. It was there where Charles Drew discovered to process and preserve blood without its cells or plasma in it. Because of this new thesis and method he created, Charles Drew received his doctorate degree in 1940, and a degree in Doctor of Medical Science. During the late 1940’s, Charles Drew was recruited by a medical doctor, John Shudder, to set up a program where donors could donate their blood, and it will be preserved

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.

Kevin Brown, the curator of the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum says “Men carried in their pockets a small metal tin. A precursor of First Aid kit. Inside contains a number of small phials of pain relief’s such as pure ether, morphine, and caffeine. At this juncture of WWI, it was thought that the best treatment was morphine, a cup of tea, and a cigarette” (Dubenskij, 2014). Carrying these small packets around definitely helped the soldiers by providing a pittance of energy whenever they are feeling low. Also said by Brown, “Men who lost limbs were given prosthetics and trained in various crafts they could do to earn a living. Before the First World War, they were ignored” this was referring after the use of Thomas Splint (Dubenskij, 2014). A contraption that is still used today to stabilize fractured femurs, prevent infection, and help knit bones back together. When used in WWI, it reduced the mortality fractures dramatically, reducing the number of soldiers dying. Prior to WWI, blood transfusions were rarely performed and a risky procedure. Transfusions are performed in instances of excessive blood loss or when a patient is incapable of making their own blood properly. This process can take from 1-4 hours by connecting an IV to a patient’s blood vessel (care, 2010). As a result, of the horrors of the First World War, blood transfusions became common. The medical team would safely keep these blood packs on ice and with the discovery of anticoagulants improved the ability to store blood (BBC, n.d.). The knowledge and skill to transfuse blood have grown. Since WWI, medicine has come to master the art of blood transfusions. The result of such growth is positive as thousands of patients across Canada have successfully benefitted with these medical inventions everyday

“I feel that the recent ruling of the United States Army and Navy regarding the refusal of colored blood donors is an indefensible one from any point of view. As you know, there is no scientific basis for the separation of the bloods of different races except on the basis of the individual blood types or groups.” This famous quote is from Charles Drew, an African American surgeon, teacher, and doctor. Charles was a surgeon and was a big part of transfusion in WW1.

successful transfusion of human blood. He performed this act to a patient for the treatment of

seem to be the harder part. Medical and science of the modern world have come a long way from blood

The Oxyglobin and Hemopure substitutes developed by Biopure have an advantage over blood transfusions in many areas including blood type matching, universality in terms of donating, such as O+ blood recipients. The blood substitutes also had a much longer storage life of 2 years as opposed to the 6-week storage life of transfused blood. Furthermore, with the rise of diseases such as AIDS and increasing public concern about the same, blood substitutes also helped mitigate that risk. Baxter International and Northfield Laboratories-products sourced their blood substitutes from human blood whereas, Biopure sourced it from animal blood, cattle in particular. This put them in a better position than their competitors. Also Biopure’s Hemopure and Oxyglobin did not require refrigeration unlike its competitor’s products.

To begin with, in many different literary pieces, blood is a symbolization of the loss of innocence or innocent lives. In Beowulf, as the men of Hrothgar are asleep, the epic poem states that Grendel, the monster, “Smashed

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 1998, Biopure Corporation is one of the three legitimate contenders in the emerging field of “blood substitutes”. Biopure has invested $200M on the R&D on blood substitutes in the past with its primary goal being the development of a human blood substitute ( Hemopure) but Its entry into animal market (Oxyglobin) had been some

“Vampires have existed throughout antiquity in every culture. I have met them. They have a culture and religion and they do drink blood. It’s given to them by willing