BLOOD TRANSFUSION SERVICE

Southland Times, Issue 24420, 28 April 1941, Page 6

BLOOD TRANSFUSION SERVICE

MORE DONORS WANTED

WELLINGTON, April 26.

“Very valuable national service can be given by citizens willing in an emergency to donate supplies of blood for transfusion purposes,” said the Minister of National Service, the Hon. R. Semple, today. The experience of air raid casualties in England had shown how essential it was that adequate facilities for blood transfusions should be available when required. It was considered that the present lists of voluntary donors throughout the Dominion would have to be considerably enlarged to meet possible needs. An important part of the service was the building up of supplies in advance, for which purpose it was necessary to have regular donors.

Mr Semple appealed to all citizens who were in good health to offer themselves as voluntary donors to the existing blood transfusions services. Certain regular donors might from the nature of their duties or for other reasons be unavailable in an emergency. This applied specially to women and Home Guardsmen. It was therefore suggested that members of the Emergency Precautions Scheme could make a particularly patriotic contribution by offering their services now so that they would be available whenever required. Mr Semple asked those willing to submit to the temporary inconvenience of blood transfusion, which might be tire means of saving the lives of others, to send their names and addresses to local public hospitals or local branches of the Blood Transfusion Council. He was assured by competent authorities that donations of blood were carefully regulated and that they would result in no impairment of the donor’s health; on the contrary they were frequently beneficial.