History of US Army Whole Blood on the Battlefield

Brigadier General Douglas Kendrick warned in his seminal work on the blood program of the Second World War, "It was only by the strictest attention to such matters that blood was able to achieve its miracles, and, equally important, was prevented from becoming a deadly agent. It must never be forgotten that without proper care, blood can be lethal." His point lay in the details offered. It was only by adherence to attention to detail in procurement, storage, and delivery the miraculous powers of blood can be achieved. Throughout his historical documentation, the requirement for special training of personnel handling blood was emphasized and documented. Deviating from prescribed storage temperatures, rough handling, exceeding shelf life, improperly matching blood types, and contaminating the blood are some of the various improper care that produce a negative patient outcome. Bacterial infection, toxicity, hypoxemia, and antibodies in the blood are just a few examples and could ultimately lead to death. This article focuses on the means of this miracle in briefly telling the story of whole blood on the battlefield by the US Army.