Spain Bleeds

The Development of Battlefield Blood Transfusion During the Civil War

Research into local aspects of the Spanish Civil War and of the International Brigades' Medical Service resulted in an informal trilogy of sorts. ¡Salud! British Volunteers in the Republican Medical Service during the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939 and Aristocrats, Adventurers and Ambulances: British Medical Units in the Spanish Civil War preceded the final book Spain Bleeds, which provides long-unavailable information on health care and medical assistance during wartime. War is sometimes mistakenly construed as the chief impetus for medical innovation. Nevertheless, military conflict obliges the implementation of discoveries still at an experimental stage. Such was the case with the practice of blood transfusion during the Spanish Civil War, when massive demand for blood provoked immediate recourse to breakthroughs in transfusion medicine not yet integrated into standard medical practice. The Spanish Civil War marked a new era in blood transfusion medicine. From humble beginnings at the outbreak of war, the blood transfusion services that were created in Spain later became crucial in the treatment of casualties during the Second World War and shaped the future evolution of blood transfusion medicine throughout the developed world.