Severe acute anaemia in a Jehovah's Witness. Survival without blood transfusion

A case is described in which a Jehovah's Witness underwent emergency surgery following which her haemoglobin fell to 1.8 g/d litre. She was successfully treated in an intensive care unit with intermittent positive pressure ventilation of the lungs, high inspired oxygen concentrations and transfusions of large volumes of gelatin solution.