Blood Service “Has Met Every Demand”

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30126, 9 May 1963, Page 21

Blood Service “Has Met Every Demand”

In 25 years of service the North Canterbury Blood Transfusion Service has never failed to meet every demand made for blood, says the report to be presented to the annual meeting on May 20. During the laet year the request for blood was about the same as last year, 11,169 bottles this year, compared with 11,128 last year, but the amount of blood used shows an increase from 7192 bottles to 7415 this year. Membership shows a slight decrease because of the large number of transfers, but 733 new donors were enrolled by the mobile unit and 541 at the blood bank, giving a total of 1274 new donors. Because of family reasons, sickness and absence a large number of members did not give last year, but it is hoped they will be back this year. However, ' although the number of donors decreased, the number of donations increased frmn 9264 bottles during 1961-62 to 9757 bottles in 1962-63. There was a slight decrease in the donations to the mobile unit but this was more than met by an increase of 620 bottles at the blood bank. As a beginning of a coordinated transfusion service, the provision of plasma products has been put on a national basis, with the Auckland tranMusion laboratory acting as a central clearing-house. During the year the service forwarded the plasma from 1338 bottles

to Auckland, from where it was shipped to the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories in Melbourne for fractionation. The resulting plasma albumen has been returned to the service, and performs a most useful and virtually imperishable transfusion fluid. , “We have also continued the exchange of small quantities of fresh blood for fresh freeze-dried plasma with the Auckland Hospital,” the report says.

During this year, 252 units of blood were exchanged for the same number of plasma units. The blood was used in hospitals of the Auckland region while the plasma has been vitally important here in the treatment of special conditions such as hemophilia. It is hoped that in the coming year the standardisation of transfusion equipment and technique* throughout New Zealand can be begun, the report says.