"BLOOD BANK."

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 189, 12 August 1939, Page 11

"BLOOD BANK."

FIRST IN AUSTRALIA.

WOMEN BEST DONORS.

SUITABLE TEMPERAMENT.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

SYDNEY, August 5

"Women are temperamentally better donors of blood than men," said Dr. Burton Bradley, of Chatswood, chief medical officer of Toe H, when discussing on July 6 the formation in Sydney of an organisation for storing blood for transfusion purposes. "If there was a choice between a woman donor and a man, give me the woman every time," he said. "No real pain is involved in giving blood, but many people fear the sight of the needle. Women are least frightened of all."

Dr. Bradley said that the blood donors' club formed under the aegis of Toe H has now organised the first "blood bank" in Australia.

The "blood bank" is a system of preserving and storing humau blood to provide an inexhaustible supply for the use of hospitals and doctors all ovc-r the State. The blood is mixed with a chemical solution which renders inert the calcium in the blood and so prevents coagulation.

Until recently it used to be necessary for the donor to visit the hospital or surgery where the blood transfusion was to take place. The "blood hank" saves this travelling time. Furthermore, it ensures that the operation of drawing blood is performed by an expert. A summons to the "blood bank" will bring the required blood in half an hour to the bedside of any patient in the metropolitan area.

Eventually it is hoped that the service will be extended to cover the whole of Australia.