Selecting the records of blood donors, Army Blood Supply Depot, Southmead Hospital, Southmead Road, Bristol

Photograph taken 9 August 1940 © Source: Historic England Archive ref: med01_01_0856

At this time the Army Blood Transfusion Service at Bristol held the names and details of 66,000 blood donors. The organising secretary, Mr. R. J. G. McCrudden is shown selecting donors whose blood will be used for the preparation of dried plasma or serum. The dried preparation will be sent abroad for the testing and enrolling of blood donors in tropical countries. The Army Blood Supply Depot, based at Southmead Hospital, was established in 1938 and began collecting blood from local donors in summer 1939. During the campaign in France in 1940, the Army Blood Supply Depot provided nearly all the blood and plasma required. Donated blood could be exchanged between the civilian and military blood depots, but the two services drew blood from separate pools of donors. Britain’s blood depot, established during World War One, and its fully functioning transfusion service pre-war meant that the transfusion service of the British army was well-organised compared to other armed forces.

Location

Bristol Bristol

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.

Selecting the records of blood donors, Army Blood Supply Depot, Southmead Hospital, Southmead Road, Bristol

Location

Period

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