65.070

MARTIN ROTARY TRANSFUSION PUMP IN CARD BOX

Inscription

SEE NOTES

Production date

circa 1965-1975

Production organisations

M&IE [MEDICAL & INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT LTD.]

Labels

This object is a blood transfusion kit used to support the collection and administration of blood during the mid-twentieth century. The kit contains specialised medical equipment required to prepare and safely carry out blood transfusions, reflecting the increasing sophistication and standardisation of transfusion medicine in the decades following the Second World War. It was designed to manually squeeze or propel blood to quickly restore it to the body during surgery.

As blood transfusion services expanded, portable kits such as this enabled trained medical staff to perform transfusions in a variety of settings, including hospitals, emergency departments and, in some cases, mobile or temporary treatment centres. During the 1940s and 1950s, advances in anticoagulants, sterile equipment and blood storage meant that donated blood could be collected, preserved and transported more effectively than ever before, making transfusion a routine and life-saving medical procedure rather than an experimental intervention. These developments were driven in large part by wartime experience, when the need to treat large numbers of casualties accelerated improvements in blood collection, storage and administration.

Sarah Chadwick, PhD Researcher