BLOOD TRANSFUSION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 267, 10 November 1937, Page 13

BLOOD TRANSFUSION.

CHRISTCHURCH SOCIETY.

LECTURES TO BE GIVEX. Activities have been commenced by the Xorth Canterbury branch of the National Blood. Transfusion Service, and letters are being forwarded to various clubs, organisations, etc., calling for donors of blood. Permission is also being sought for Dr. Edgar Thomson, the honorary medical officer of the branch, to give lectures on blood transfusion and its effect on the donor and the recipient. The branch was organised at a meeting held recently under the auspices of the St. John Ambulance Association (states the "Star-Sun"), and it was explained that the object was to form a national service for supplying blood donors so that theie would be 110 overlapping. The service is entirely voluntary. Blood transfusion is used considerably in cases of accidents and anaemia, and for patients who need strengthening before operations. It is very necessary that transfusions should be jriven from persons with the same type of blood as the patient, or there may l>e serious result*, and the national service is aiming to collect records and facilitate transfers ot donors from town to town. The ages of donors ranges from 20 to 60 years. There is one type embracing those who are known as universal donors. These persons, who represent about 40 per cent of the donors, can have their blood transfused to anybody. There are also universal recipients in the same proportion. One of the essentials for a blood donor is that he should be immediately available if required.