Like the human body itself, a hospital like SMH-Sarasota or SMH-Venice needs a healthy blood flow to function properly. In fact, blood donations play a crucial role in helping physicians treat all sorts of patients, whether it be whole blood infusions for trauma victims, plasma for burn patients, or even life-saving platelets for those battling cancer.
Sarasota Memorial alone—between emergency care, leukemia treatments, sickle cell therapies, and more—requires at least 2,500 pints of donated blood each month, providing healthcare to the community. And as our community grows, the need for reliable blood donors only increases.
This is why Sarasota Memorial partners with SunCoast Blood Centers to host regular blood drives on both campuses and throughout the greater healthcare system. It only takes 15 minutes to donate—and each donation can save up to three lives.
It wasn’t always this way.
The Early History of Blood Donation: Dog Days, the Kidnapping of Antoine Mauroy & a Landmark Discovery
Despite thousands of years demonstrating an undeniable proclivity for poking holes in each other and watching the blood come out, it wasn’t until 1628, when an English physician named William Harvey discovered the circulatory system, that someone had the bright idea to try putting some back in. The first successful blood transfusion, however, would not come until 1665, at the hands of another English physician: Richard Lower. That the patients in this case were dogs should not diminish the accomplishment but may help explain why his next idea was to inject a priest with lamb’s blood.
Called xenotransfusion, the practice was first documented by a French physician named Jean-Baptiste Denys, who advocated for its use in treating what today would be recognized as mental illness. Early attempts by both Denys and Lower were considered successful, but only because the transfusions were small enough so as not to induce a lethal allergic reaction. Later attempts were not so reserved. The experiment culminated in a wildly unethical episode involving abduction, calf’s blood, and the death of a patient named Antoine Mauroy.
Within two years of Denys’ trial, the French Parliament banned the practice of blood transfusion, with the English Parliament soon following suit. Perhaps this is why the first successful human blood transfusion would take place in Philadelphia, in 1795, at the hands of an American physician now known as the “Father of American Surgery,” Philip Syng Physick. He would neglect to publish his findings.
The following century saw advances in using blood transfusions to treat postpartum hemorrhaging and hemophilia, and a very strange decade when American physicians decided to inject patients with milk instead of blood. But it ended on a high note with Karl Landsteiner’s discovery of human blood types—he named them A, B, and C—in 1900. Scientists would later replace C with O, but they also gave him the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1930, so it evens out.
Death of a President
In 1799, George Washington was bled by physicians for a whopping 10 hours, in a practice called “bloodletting,” which was thought to cure all manner of ailments. But after draining more than three liters of blood, the former president died instead.
If Physick had published his findings in 1795, maybe they would have thought to put some back in.
The Birth of Modern Blood Donation: Blood Banks and Two World Wars
Landsteiner’s work on human blood types ushered in a new age of medical understanding that opened the door for blood donation as it is known today. And in the years following, the discoveries came fast and thick:
- 1902: Alfred Decastello and Adriano Sturli document a fourth blood type—AB.
- 1907: Ludvig Hektoen introduces the idea of crossmatching, or matching a patient and donor blood type, in order to reduce harmful reactions. O is soon identified as a universal donor.
- 1908: Carlo Moreschi develops the antiglobulin test, which screens patients for antibodies that indicate a negative reaction to blood transfusion. It is a precursor to the Coombs test.
- 1912: AB blood type is identified as a global recipient.
- 1914: The formulation of long-term anticoagulants, such as sodium citrate, opens the door to prolonged preservation of donated blood.
- 1915: Richard Lewisohn conducts the first indirect blood transfusion, using sodium citrate to preserve donated blood for transfusion, rather than directly connecting donor to patient. Elsewhere, Richard Weil proves that anticoagulated blood can be safely refrigerated for future use.
However, as if often the case, the greatest advances came in times of conflict, born of necessity.
World War I saw the creation of the first blood bank, as Oswald Hope Robertson, a former med student serving with the US Army Medical Corps, took it upon himself to collect blood from universal donors among the American troops and deliver it to Canadian medics. He only managed to collect 22 units, but it saved 20 lives and introduced the concept of maintaining stores of donated blood for emergency use. The first permanent blood bank came 20 years later in Chicago, at Cook County Hospital.
With World War II, everything went into overdrive. Preparing for the imminent invasion of Britain, the U.S. Armed Forces sought out Charles R. Drew, an African American physician, to create a nationwide program for the collection of wartime blood donations to send across the Atlantic. They named it Blood for Britain and Drew as medical director, where he enlisted the help of the American Red Cross and invented the bloodmobile. He would later resign in protest of segregationist policies, but much of the work was already done.
By 1950, the blood donation network in the United States would include 1,500 hospital blood banks, 46 community blood centers, and 31 American Red Cross regional blood centers.
As blood donation and transfusion became more prevalent, the danger of bloodborne diseases—and the need for effective screening to protect blood reserves—soon became apparent. By the 1970s, screening for hepatitis began, followed by the introduction of screening for HIV in the 1980s. These protective protocols are continually improved and updated, as novel diseases like West Nile and Zika arise.
Giving Blood in the 21st Century: Simple, Safe, Saving Lives
Donating blood today is easier—and safer—than it’s ever been. And if you’re looking to become a blood donor, these resources can help.
For those in the Suncoast area, SunCoast Blood Centers can point you towards the nearest blood bank or blood drive.
For a broader search for blood donation sites across the nation, the American Red Cross has plenty of tools on this website.
And don’t forget to keep an eye out for the next drive hosted by Sarasota Memorial.
More Articles from the SMH Centennial Series
A Brief History of Anesthesiology
Celebrating Heroes In Medicine: Vivien Thomas
Written by Sarasota Memorial copywriter Philip Lederer, MA, who crafts a variety of external communications for the healthcare system. SMH’s in-house wordsmith, Lederer earned his Master’s degree in Public Administration and Political Philosophy from Morehead State University, KY, and makes all of his own blood.