New war uniform for nurses, Greater London

Photograph taken 26 September 1939 © Source: Historic England Archive ref: med01_01_0530

At the start of World War Two a new war uniform for nurses was introduced by the Joint War Council of the British Red Cross and the Order of St. John. A feature of the new uniform was the method of fastening the apron to the chest, using a quick action clip gripping loops on the uniform and apron. Here The Dowager Lady Ampthill (Chairman of the Committee for Trained Nurses) is inspecting the new war uniforms for nurses in London.

Location

Greater London N/A

Period

World War Two (1939 - 1945)

Themes

Bottles of dried plasma being packed together with the giving sets in special cases for transport to the Middle East or where needed. The outbreak of World War Two had prompted work investigating the division of blood into its constituent parts, because whole blood was difficult to transport to overseas battlefields. Plasma is the fluid in the blood containing proteins that help blood to clot. Liquid plasma, though more efficient to transport than whole blood, was similarly difficult to convey to battle and administer in the field. Dried plasma was introduced, with the benefits of stability, more economical storage and transportation, and ease of preparation. The “dried plasma sets” packed and despatched overseas consisted of a bottle of dried plasma, a tin box containing sterile giving set, and a bottle of sterile water. It took minutes for the dried plasma to be adequately dissolved in the water; concentrated plasma could be obtained by adding less distilled water.

New war uniform for nurses, Greater London

Location

Period

Themes

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