Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1919-03-20
MANY SAVED BY
canned BLOOD"
One of the Remarkable Develop
ments of Great War.
IS TRIUMPH OF SURGERY


Work of Medical Men After Battles
Shows Wonderful Advance Made in
Science-American Army Surgeons
Keep Up With Pace.
The war department authorizes the
following statement from the office OF
the surgeon general:
One of the remarkable Developments
of war surgery was the use made III
the American expeditionary force of
canned blood" The lives of many
wounded soldiers were saved through
TRANSMISSION of blood. Canned blood"
is a colloquialism, for in reality sterile
TASKS were used to contain tested
bloods which were prepared for use in
an emergency.
A few years ago treatment by this
method would have seemed incredible.
Due to the advancement of war sur
gerry, however, many things became
possible, and American army surgeon"
kept the pace. The unadorned story
of The development and technique of
blood TRANSMISSION in the American eX-
Evolutionary force comes from II medi-
cal corps officer of the surgeon gener-
ais office, who, for more than II year,
Was with the American eXpeditionary
force.
knowledge gained by experience in
other wars has shown that of the
many causes of death among wound
ed soldiers there are two which have
stood out prominently as heavy fac
tors Shock and hemorrhage. Shock
is II peculiar phenomenon, the exact
nature of which has been mystery.
Since the beginning of the war; how
ever there has been II concentration
of effort to solve this mystery, and
now. although the true physiological
mechanism in the production of shock
is not entirely solved, the scientific
workers of the allied countries and
the United States have gone far in
their efforts toward Il better under
standing of it.
Shock and Hemorrhage.
Shock is characterized principally
by loss of body heat, prOStration and
Inconsistencies, Il lowered blood pres
sure and an alteration in the circula-
iiun--a Stagnation of blood somewhere
in the body, most probably in the capil-
lnrieS. AS Il matter of fact for some
time medical men have spoken Of
shock as Il condition in which an in
dividual bleedS into his own blood
Vessels: and, in the sense that there is
II loss of blood from the circulutiOn an
analogy does exist between shock and
hemurrhage. 1t has been shown that
there are certain prediSposing factors
in the production of shock, namely,
fatigue, hunger, exposure and excite
ncnt. Little need be said about the
cause of hemorrhage, because every
one knows that when wounds are in
ticted, bleeding occurs.
Concerning treatment it is of in
tereSt to know that the TRANSMISSION
of blood is by no means modern idea,
for il was resorted to as early as the
fifteenth century. At that time, how
ever. and until very recently, it was
procedure attended with the probable
tty of grave results. Hence it really
Is perfection of the technique that has
made the procedure available for sure
and easy use in the army and else
where.
For the use Of the army medical
science offered several different meth
DDS of performing blood TRANSMISSION.
BY the old method, called the direct"
the blood vessels of two individuals
are connected by sutures and the blood
Is allowed to flow from one individual
to another This was improved upon
by the use of a specially devised tube
Ia connect the vessels Any such
method, however, has many obvious
disadvantages. The element of time.
the necessity for great skill on the part
of the operators, the possibility of in
lection and inaccuracy in measuring
the quantity infused are some of the
prominent difficulties. AS matter of
fact, in civil practice, wherein great
deal of blood TRANSMISSION work is
done. those methods are practically
obsolete.
Indirect Methods.
The big step in the development of
the procedure for common use came
with the introduction of the indirect"
methods. In these blood from one in
dividual is received in a receptacle
and then injected into another indi-
vidua. The person giving the blood,
1t may be well to state here, is always
called the donor" and the person re-
ceivng it~the recipient"
In these indirect methods very i'm
portant consideration is the preven-
ton of coagulatiOn of the blood be-
tween the time it is drawn from the
"dOnor" and the time it is infused into
'the recipient"
In civil medical practice some men
use what is called the Syringe meth
3D." in which the blood is removed
and injected by means Of glass
syringes. This procedure requires
three persons in order to carry on one
TRANSMISSION and depends upon the
quickness with which they work to
avoid the possibility of coagulation
of the blood. If pieces of coagulated
blood should happen to be injected into
any individual, some small vessel in
the body probably would become
plugged. the damage resulting there.
from depending upon the location of
the Ch>tructed artery. Another meth
cd eliminates the possibility of coagu.
lation by receiving the blood of 1.-THE
donor in a solution of some substance
known To nrevent Goa plllatiOn