Historical OVERVIEW

BLOOD LETTING
2500 BC Egyptians Use Bleeding
- A tomb illustration in Memphis, Egypt, depicts a patient being bled from the
foot and neck. Though the bloodletting was often recommended by physicians,
it was carried out by barbers, eventually symbolized by the red-and-white-
striped barber pole.
1897 Dracula by Irish Author Bram Stroker is published
- Remembered as the quintessential vampire novel, it provided the basis of the
modern vampire fiction ---- the taking of blood from the living to sustain the
“life” of the undead.
Late 1800s Bloodletting Medically Questioned
- The benefits of bloodletting began to be seriously questioned in the 2 nd half od
the 1800s. some still considered beneficial in some circumstances, for instance
to “clear out” infected or weakened blood or to stop hemorrhaging. Some form
of bloodletting persisted into the 20th century
TRANSFUSIONS
1492 First Historical Transfusion Attempt
- Blood was taken from 3 young men & given to the stricken Pope Innocent VII
in the hope of curing him; unfortunately, all 4 died
1667 1st Recorded Human Transfusion
- The 1st fully documented human blood transfusion was administered in France.
King Louis XIV’s doctor transfused the blood of a sheep into a 15-year-old boy,
who survived.
1818 1st Human-To-Human Transfusion
- British obstetrician and physiologist, James Blundell performs the 1 st recorded
human to human blood tranfxn. He injected a ptx suffering from internal
bleeding w/ 12 to 14 ounces of blood from several donors. The ptx died after
initially showing improvement.
1869 Attempts to find a nontoxic anticoagulant
- Braxton Hicks recommended sodium phosphate. Clotting was the principal
obstacle to overcome.
1901 Three Main Blood Groups Discovered
- Karl Landsteiner discovered the ABO blood groups and explained the serious
rxn that occur in humans as a result of incompatible transfusion
1902 4th Blood Group Discovered
- AB group was identified
1907 1st use of Cross matching
- Cross matching checks the blood donors and recipients for signs of
incompatibility
Between 1908-1914 Edward Lindermann was the 1st to succeed in performing blood transfxn. He carried
out vein to vein transfxn of blood by using multiple syringes and a special cannula for
puncturing the vein thru the skin
1914 1st Non-direct Transfusion
- Hustin reported the use of Sodium citrate as an anticoagulant solution for
transfxns.
- Researchers discover that adding sodium citrate to blood will prevent it from
 clotting. Adding anticoagulant and refrigerating the blood made it possible to
store it for days, opening the way for blood blanking
** 35 days storage life of anticoagulated blood
1915 Safer and Availability of Blood
- Lewisohn determined the minimum amounts of citrate needed for anticoagulant
and demonstrated its nontoxicity in small amounts. Transfxns became more
practical and safer for the ptx.
THE IMPACT OF WAR
1922 Blood Donor Service Established in London
- Volunteers agree to be on 24-hour call and to travel to local hospitals to give
blood as the need arises. All volunteers are screened for disease, tested for
blood type and their names are entered into the phone log.
1930 1st Network of Blood Facilities
- The Soviets are the 1st to establish a network of facilities to collect and store
blood for use in transfxn at hospitals.
1935 1st In-Hospital Blood Facilities
- Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN is the first to begin storing citrated blood and
utilizing it for transfxn w/in a hospital setting in the U.S

1936 Barcelona Blood- Transfusion Services

- The Barcelona Blood transfusion Service collects blood, tests it, pools it by
blood group, preserves and stores it in bottles under refrigeration and by the
way of vehicles fitted with refrigerators, transports it to front line hospitals
during the Spanish Civil War.
1937 Term “ Blood Bank “was Coined
- Dr. Bernard Fantus at Chicago’s Cook CO. Hospital coins the term “blood
bank”
1939-40 Discovery of the Rh Blood Group
- Discovery of the Rh group and identification of the antibody causing still births
as the anti-Rh
1940 U.S Sends Blood Plasma to Great Britain
- U.S processes, tests, and stores plasma for shipment to Great Britain
1941 Red Cross Organizes Blood Plasma War Effort
- Red Cross agrees to organize a civilian blood donor service to collect blood
plasma for the war effort
- Dr. Charles Drew was appointed director of the 1st American Red Cross blood
bank at the Presbyterian Hospital
- During the WW2, he is on developing techniques in blood transfxn and blood
preservation led to the establishment of a widespread system of blood banks
1943 Transfusion-transmitted Hepatitis
- 1st description of transfusion-transmitted hepatitis
- Loutit and Mollison of England introduced the formula for the preservative
acid-citrate-dextrose (ACD)
1947 American Association of Blood Banks
- Community blood banks join together to form a national network of blood
banks called the “American Association of Blood Banks”.

1948 Development of Plastic Bag

 - Development of the plastic bag revolutionized blood collection
1950’s Antibody Identification Developed
- The daily occurrence of transfxn led to the discovery of numerous blood group
systems. Antibody identification surged to the forefront as sophisticated
techniques were developed
1957 Citrate phosphate-Dextrose (CPD)
- Gibson introduced an improved preservative sol’n called citrate phosphate-
dextrose (CPD), which was less acidic and eventually replaced ACD as the
standard preservative used for blood storage
1965 Cryoprecipitate Developed
- The discovery that slowly thawed frozen plasma yields deposit high in Factor
VII. These deposits, called cryoprecipitates- or- cryo are found to have much
greater clotting power than plasma and are given to hemophiliacs to stop
bleeding episodes.
1971 FDA regulation
- Regulation of blood banking transfers from the Division of Biologics Standards
(DBS) to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
1971 Testing for Hepatitis B
Development of a test for Hepa B antibodies, thereby identifying infected donors, the test
is mandated by the FDA
PRESENTLY The Component Theory
- Physicians can select the specific component for their patient’s particular needs
without risking the inherent hazards of whole blood transfusions. Component
theory has solved circulatory overload.
THE ERA OF AIDS
1981 The 1st Case of AIDS
- The first case of a syndrome initially called GRID (Gay-Related
Immunodeficiency Disease) due to its prevalence among gay men are reported.
It is later renamed AIDS.
1982 Blood-Borne Theory
- When hemophiliacs begin to develop GRID, theory developed that the
syndrome may be blood borne
1983 AIDS Virus Isolated
- Researchers isolated the virus that causes AIDS
1984 AIDS Virus Isolated
- Virus that causes AIDS identified as HTLV III (Human T-cell Lymphotropic
Virus)
1985 First AIDS Blood Screening Test
- First blood-screening test to detect the presence or absence of HIV antibodies.
The ELISA test is universally adopted by the American blood banks and plasma
centers.
1999 NAT Testing
- Blood centers in the US begin implementing the Nucleic Acid testing (NAT) for
all blood donations. It narrows the so-called “window period “– after a donor is
infected by HIV, HBV & HCV but before the condition is detectable by routine
methods
BLOOD BANK HISTORY IN THE PHILIPPINES
1948 Philippine National Red Cross
 PNRC launched the Nat’l Blood program on July 17, 1948 w/ Pres. Elpidio
Quirino as the 1st blood donor.
1956 The Blood Bank Law
- Subsequently, government and private hospitals set up blood banks. Through
the years, the demand for blood for transfxn grew\
- Because of the inability of the PNRC, NBP and hospital blood banks to cope
with this growing demand, commercial blood banks were established.
- In order to assure the safety of the supply of blood from the hospital and
commercial blood banks, the gov’t passed the Blood Bank Law in 1956
1957 Blood Galloners Club
- 16 blood donors formed the Blood Galloners Club (BGC) in ceremonies at the
Philippine Columbian Club
- The 1st President was Fr. John Bush, an Australian priest, who served from the
1957-62. The current president is P/Supt. Joel Torregoza-1997-present
- Their foremost objective was to recruit more donors and increased their ranks.
1980 Joint Committee on Blood Banking
- Director of the BRL to study the decrease in the number of professional blood
donors. The idea of promoting voluntary blood donation was raised
1983 Philippine Blood Coordinating Council
- In June 8, 1983, Dr. Tomas P. Maramba, Jr., then the President of the PSP
invited representatives of the DOH, PNRC, BGC and health professionals’
association to a meeting to discuss the need to promote voluntary blood
donation
- This led to the formation of the Philippine Blood Coordinating Council (PBCC),
which was launched at the PMA auditorium on September 15, 1983 with
Minister of Health, Jesus Azurin as the main speaker
- The original concept was that the PBCC would be a coordinating body for the
PNRC, government agencies, health professional associations and health related
organizations in the campaign for voluntary blood donation and appropriate use
of blood components.
1987 NATIONAL BLOOD SERVICES PROGRAM
- On August 18, 1987 the DOH became directly involved in the Blood Program
when it issued Department Circular No. 99, s. 1987, which enunciated two
policies:
1. To provide an adequate supply of safe blood transfxn, principally via
voluntary blood donation
2. To encourage the efficient utilization of blood resources