New Blood Bank Located In Basement Of Norwood Hospital-This Day In Norwood History-December 10, 1942

“Best In The Country” For Towns Of Same Size

In one of the most progressive medical steps made In the town in years, a blood bank was completed at the Norwood Hospital yesterday and is ready for service, matching anything in the country for a municipality of comparative size.

The bank came about as the result of civilian defense activities in the town, and culminates long and careful planning.

The committee in charge of the bank is headed by Dr. Vnlmore A. Pelletier, chairman of the medical defense division of the Committee on Public Safety and staff surgeon at the Norwood Hospital.

Assisting him on the committee are Dr. George Klein of 869 Washington Street. Dr. Louis A. Sieracki of 71 Winter Street. Dr. James F. Carolan of 227 Railroad avenue, and Dr. George A. Small of 106 Walpole street.

The centre is located in the basement of the hospital, where it occupies two rooms. One of the rooms Is given over to such equipment as is necessary for removing blood from donors.

The second room contains laboratory equipment necessary for preparing and testing blood, and also contains the major piece of apparatus in the blood bank.

This is the freezing unit, which stores the blood plasma and which can maintain it for greatly extended periods. It will handle 168 units of plasma, enough for any major disaster conceivable in the town.

At the Boston City Hospital, 1600 units of blood plasma were used to handle the victims brought from the Cocoanut Grove tragedy, which was the worst tragedy of its sort in the nation since 1903 when a theatre burned in Chicago, killing more than 600 persons.

Boston has a population of more than 800,000 persons. Norwood’s plasma bank will hold 168 units, or better than one-tenth of the number used at City Hospital in Boston, whereas Norwood’s population is much less than one-thirtieth the population of Boston.

Few hospitals in the country in communities of comparable size are equipped with any blood bank of their own. The work done at the Norwood Hospital is close to being a precedent.

Blood plasma, doctors explained, is of great importance in cases of traumatic or surgical shock, of the greatest importance in the treatment of victims of bad burns, or in any case of peripheral circulatory failure.

The blood bank at the Norwood Hospital has a dual purpose.

The first is to maintain a reserve of such all-vital plasma against the possibility of a war disaster in cooperation with the Committee on Public Safety.

The second purpose is to provide the residents of the town with the service of the bank in case of Individual accidents, injuries or sicknesses.

Through the service of the bank. blood plasma will be available to the residents at greatly reduced costs. The service of the physicians is rendered free of charge to the town, and the only costs to the persons who may benefit from the bank will be such costs as arise through maintenance of the unit.

Where residents of the town are given plasma from the bank, however, they will be expected to replace the units with donations from relatives or friends. This will impose no hardship on the residents, since in cases of accident the hospitals usually have a good response to appeals for transfusions.

Besides the Committee on Public Safety and the committee of doctors, great praise is due to Robert Brown, administrator of the hospital, Miss Dorcas Clark, superintendent of nurses, and Dr. Herbert Rice of Canton, head of senior service at the hospital.

Arrangements are being made to open the blood bank for inspection by the townspeople in the near future.

December 10, 1942 – The Norwood Messenger