BLOOD TRANSFUSION

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 103, 3 May 1934, Page 13

BLOOD TRANSFUSION

SERVICE TO HUMANITY

MINISTER'S TRIBUTE

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Wellington Blood Transfusion Service last "night, the Minister of Health (the Hon. J. A. Young) said' that the members, of the organisation were to be heartily congratulated for their pioneering work in firmly establishing a servieo of such value- to humanity. "To the donors of blood," said'tho Minister, "for their generous '.assistance to those in urgent" need, the people, of Wellington must feel a sense of gratitude, such as has been so fittingly expressed in the letter forwarded by Dr. H. B. Ewen, Medical Superintendent, on behalf of tho medical staff and patients at the .Wellington Hospital, contained in your annual report." Mr. Young quoted from tho letter in which Dr. Ewen said: "The voluntary work rendered for suffering humanity by members of your group is of inestimable value in the saving of lives, both directly in cases of severe injury or hemorrhage, and indirectly in thebuilding up of patients? resources and stamina in preparation for" serious operations, or in the combating of disease." ' ■ ' ■_ "It is to be noted," Mr. Young continued, "that your volunteers are available at call, clay and night, and. since time /may be an important factor in saving life, such an arrangement is a wise one: It is gratifying to note-also the valuable co-operation being received from employers in giving leave of absence to volunteer donors on their staff. The work could not, of course, be.carried out without the expert and generous assistance of members of the medical committee, and appreciation is due also to the Wellington Free Ambulauee Association for its ever-ready and competent help in transporting patients to hospital. The splendid example set by your association is worthy"of emulation throughout the \ Dominion, and 1 am pleased to see .that.you have received a number of inquiries from other .places with a view tp the formation,of similar organisations elsewhere/ Tracing the development of blood transfusion the Minister said that it was Sir Christopher Wren,-who first used not only intravenous injection of drugs, but transfusion of "blood in 1659. Since that time, however, blood transfusion had found a very definite place in medical therapeutics, and a great deal of painstaking and accurate scientific investigation had been carried, out as to the conditions'under which the blood of one human being might be safely mixed with that of another. Blood transfusion was first practised on a large scale during the war' "for cases of severe hemorrhage amongst soldiers. Since-then it had been carried out in tens of thousands of cases to combat the effects of shock and loss of blood, resulting from diverse causes. The use of serum from the blood of convalescent, or previous, sufferers, had come into wide use in recent years. In infantile paralysis, for instance, by its injection into the blood stream, we knew now how to prevent, or ward off, or lessen the severity of the paralysis. When infantile paralysis was epidemic in. the community, a list of convalescent, or possible donors, was kepfc by. the Health Department, and the co-operation of the association in this direction would be greatly valued. In commoner infectious diseases, too, such as,measles, the blood of convalescents is found to have similar protective value. Mr. Young cited several cases brought to his notice in which Wood .transfusion had been the means of saving the.lives of the patients, and extended .to.the service!.his sinceiest congratulations on its work and his best wishes for its future development.