BLOOD TRANSFUSION

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 27, 31 July 1940, Page 4

BLOOD TRANSFUSION

♦ VALUABLE SERVICE ADDRESS TO ROTARIANS « The work of the Blood Transfusion Service was the subject of an address at the Wellington Rotary Club's weekly lunch yesterday by Mr. C. Meachen, of the St. John Ambulance Association, who founded the service in New Zealand. . Mr. Meachen said that Sir Christopher Wren, the great architect, was associated with the earliest blood transfusion experiments in England, and saw the first transfusion carried out in 1667. The difficulty of early experiments was that the , blood clotted and it was not until the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 that it was found that citrate of sodium would prevent clotting. The knowledge gained during the Great War was turned to good account in times of peace. The lives of many victims of motor accidents, for instance, had been saved by this means, and there were many forms of illness in which it was called for. For blood* transfusion it was necessary to have a donor—-a person willing to give about a pint of his blood. It was simply a generous act on the part of the donor and involved him in no risk and very little inconvenience. The normal person's circulatory system contained from 13 to i 5 pints of blood and he could part with a pint of it without any ill effect. It would be made up again. in 48 hours simply by drinking plenty of water. MISTAKEN BELIEF. Even today there was a widespread belief that part of a man's, character could be conveyed with the blood, but there was no truth in this. Mr. Meachen explained "blood grouping" and the classification of blood types and showed, on a large chart, which groups could serve as 'donors./tp; other groups. Referring to the blood grouping of soldiers, he said that in New Zealand the service had had the privilege of supplying the serum required for the enormous task of testing the blood of all the troops proceeding overseas. Six years ago the German army led the way in blood grouping its men, and today all soldiers of the British Army had their blood group recorded on their identification discs. ■■, Quoting figures relating to the Wellington branch of the service, Mr. Meachen said the biggest number of calls received in one day was eight, and in one month (May last) 52. The individual record as a donor was held by a City Council traffic inspector, who had given 25 blood transfusions during the past six years. During the past eight years 1494 transfusions had been given by the branch. An increasing part was being played by women in the service owing to the number of men who had gone overseas. Since the outbreak of war the number of women donors had increased from 64 to 148. Kiwis are reported to be increasing in numbers on Mount Egmont. ' A northern guide reports having seen several at one time, and estimates that there are fully 100 in the reserve. *