The Transfusion of Blood and Blood Derivatives Under Emergency Conditions

The problems which arise in connection with the transfusion of war casualties differ to some extent from the problems of peacetime injuries. In the first place the war casualties transfused are usually healthy persons who have suddenly had a knockout blow, while the peacetime patients are sick people with a weak, if not grossly disordered, cardiovascular mechanism. Secondly the majority of wartime transfusions are given under adverse circumstances. Only too often the bombs responsible for the casualties destroy the lighting system and the heating and the water supplies. The transfusion team, if the incident occurs at night, may be entirely dependent, for instance, on its own light supply. If all the windows in the building have been broken, even electric torches are likely to cause a good deal of concern to air raid wardens in charge of the blackout. Work has to be carried out with a forehead lamp only,