South West London Blood Supply Depot (memorandum)
1945 1945 1940s 3 pages In 1939, as a war emergency measure, four blood transfusion depots were set up in the out-skirts of London. These depots acted as blood banks to supply hospitals with blood for transfusion purposes for bomb casualties. Thousands of London and Home Counties citizens volunteere...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
1945
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/BC27EFE4-630B-4254-B5AC-717066D63750 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/41AB1A82-99AB-4491-9B01-93A34F8F51C5 |
| Summary: | 1945
1945
1940s
3 pages
In 1939, as a war emergency measure, four blood transfusion depots were set up in the out-skirts of London. These depots acted as blood banks to supply hospitals with blood for transfusion purposes for bomb casualties. Thousands of London and Home Counties citizens volunteered as blood donors. During the London "blitz" their blood was the direct cause of saving thousands of lives. So impressive were the results that even when the "blitz" was over the demand for blood remained. Doctors had learned from the "blitz" the value of blood in treatment not only of shock but of other surgical and medical conditions. The S.W. London Blood Supply Depot was one of the four blood depots set up. The figures of this Depot show the trend of current medical practice in transfusion. The following are the number of pint bottles of blood issued in 12 monthly periods :- 1st July, 1940 to 30th June, 1941 9,410 bottles of blood " 1941 to " 1942 13,998 " " " 1942 to " 1943 17,528 " " " 1943 to " 1944 21,917 " " " 1944 to " 1945 22,397 " " Some of this blood was used for bomb casualties, but it is notable that even when no bombs were falling, even for long periods, the steady increase in the demand for blood was maintained. So remarkable was the progress made by blood banks and the transfusion services during the war years that there has been a universal demand for their retention in perpetuo. In the British Medical Journal of May 5th, 1945, Major-General W.H. Ogilvie, R.A.M.C - a surgeon - states:- "The greatest surgical advance of this war, more important even than penicillin, is the development of the transfusion service...." "A transfusion service, with blood banks sufficient to meet any needs, must be available for the resuscitation of the injured and the restoration of the sick in civilian life".
292/845.2/4/23 |
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |