The L'Anse sentinel., 1919-04-04

from depending upon the location OF
the obstructed artery. Another meth
cd eliminates the possibility of coagu.
lation by receiving the blood Of "the
donor" In solution of some substance
known to prevent coagulatlon.
With the foregoing facts in view,
the medical men who were with the
American expedltionary forces decid-
ed that whatever method was adopted
1t would have to be one as simple as
might be and which could be taught
and learned In very short time, yet
one as faultless as possible. The in
direct method, using sodium citrate to
prevent coagulation, was decided upon.
Also a type of apparatus was devised
to serve as model for the standard
outfit. This apparatus was made Of
glass bottles glass tubing, rubber stop
pers and rubber tubing. Very little
skilled work was required in prepar-
ing a large number of the sets. At
the central medical laboratory the out
fits were prepared and put up In car
rying cases. Every officer who took
the course of instruction there was
sent out with set ready for use. In
blood TRANSMISSION, besides the danger
of coagulation, there are other equal
ly important conditions that may be
harmful and must be taken into con-
sideratiOne OF these, two are Of prin-
-cipal Importance.
First, there Is the danger of the
transmission Of disease through the
medium of the transfused blood. An
individual who Is suffering from such
a disease, of which malaria and syphi-
lis are examples, must never be used
as donor.
Second, there is the possible biologi-
cal incompatibility between two bloods.
How II Is Done.
In order to see the machinery In op-
GRAFTON, let us say that man in a
condition of shock is brought into an
evacuation hospital near the battle
line. He Is unconscious, cold, has a
low blood pressure, and has suffered
considerable blood loss before the flow
had been stopped at the advance post.
He is put in a special shock ward and
on special shock bed. The ward is
warm, quiet, restful and well venti-
lated. AS for the bed, that accentu-
ates these conditions. Over 1t is ex-
tended a frame supporting the bed
clothes in a manner that reminds one
Of prairie schooner. An alcohol
stove, placed upon the floor at the foot
of the bed, delivers the heat into the
schooner" by means Of conducting
pipe and fenestra. The man lies un-
der the covers with only HRS face ex-
posed. 1t is deemed best to perform
a blood TRANSMISSION upon the patient.
A few drops of his blood are procured,
and, by means of known serums, the
blood group to which he belongs is
determined. A glance at the. list Of
donors and one is chosen who belongs
to the same group. Blood is drawn
from the donor into receptacle con-
tanning sterile sodium citrate in the
right proportion and this blood is in
jected into the wounded man.
To depart from the specific exam
pie, occasionally the blood was stored
on Ice for several days and then used,
perhaps at the firing line. Such cases
were relatively few, however. More
often, II donors for almost immediate
use could not be procured or were not
to be had In sufficient number, con-
ditiOn that arises during big attacks,
certain fluid substitutes for blood were
employed. AS In the case of anti
there are many such fluids.
OF course any blood substitute must be
harmless to tissues and red cells alike.
The old standard fluid substitute,
which met these requirements, was
sterile normal salt solution, and, al
though the Immediate effect of intra-
venous saline is equivalent sometimes
to even blood TRANSMISSION, the benefit
is usually lost in short time and an
opposite, deleterious effect is produced.
This result, it was found, could be
avoided and a relatively permanent ef-
feet secured by the use of fluid of
the same physical properties as blood.