Blood Transfusions

• Blood transfusions during the first World War were quite revolutionary
• Main blood groups are A, O, B
• Blood transfusions between humans sometimes worked, but transfusions with animals always failed
• Problems of blood transfusion needed to be overcome
• Problems of blood transfusion


  • Rejection
  • Storage
  • Need for donor and patient to be side by side
• Solution to rejection


  1. Discovery of blood groups A, B, O in 1901 by Dr. Carl Landsteiner

  2. Discovery of blood group AB in 1902

  3. Identification of group O as Universal in 1907 by Reuben Ottenberg
• Providing a transfusion with the correct blood type prevents rejection
• Solution to storage problem


  1. Discovery in 1894 by British scientists that certain acids in a soluble solution could prevent clotting

  2. Discovery in 1915 by American Doctor Richard Lewerson that adding sodium citrate to blood stopped clotting

  3. Discovery in 1915 by Richard Vile that blood could be refrigerated and stored for 48 hours

  4. Discovery in 1916 by Francis Rouse and James Turner that adding citrate glucose solution allowed blood to be stored for up to four weeks
• Aseptic surgery methods helped to solve the danger of infection during blood transfusions
• Richard Vile discovered that blood could be refrigerated and stored for 48 hours without going off


  1915
• Francis Rouse and James Turner found that by adding citrate glucose solution blood could be stored for up to four weeks


  1916
• British-born American doctor Oswald Hope Robinson brought a bank of 22 units of universal blood in ice refrigerated ammunition boxes


  1917
• Some of the blood was 26 days old
• Oswald Hope Robinson treated 20 wounded Canadian soldiers with the stored blood, and 11 of them survived, showing that the stored blood in banks worked
• Previously, blood was donated from less badly wounded men to the more badly wounded men at the Casualty Clearing Stations (CCs) in major offensives, causing shortages
• Developments in blood storage helped ensure that there was enough blood stored to prevent men from dying of shock
• Blood groups have been identified
• Use of blood transfusion in World War One was pioneered by Canadian doctor Lawrence Bruce Robinson at Berline Base Hospital
• Lawrence Bruce Robinson used an indirect method for blood transfusion, reducing the risk of death from shock
• From 1917, transfusions became a standard treatment for shock at Casualty Clearing Stations (CCS)
• British doctor Lieutenant Jeffrey Keane developed a portable transfusion kit which regulated the flow of blood to prevent clotting
• Stored blood couldn't be used in the portable transfusion kit as it had to be kept fresh
• World War One helped accelerate progress in the field of blood transfusions, solving the problems of rejection, storage, and the need for the patient and donor to be together
• Landsteiner's discovery of blood groups and compatibility solved the problem of rejection
• The addition of sodium bicarbonate and later sodium citrate solved the problem of storage without clotting
• Refrigeration further lengthened the time that blood could be stored
• Bruce Robinson's indirect method made the patient and donor being together unnecessary
• Despite being quite unusual during World War One, the advances in blood transfusions proved tremendously useful in peacetime and continue to be so today