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Emergency rooms to experiment with artificial blood

blood

If successful, fake blood offers several advantages

February 17, 1997
Web posted at: 9:20 p.m. EST

(CNN) -- Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is about to become the first hospital in the United States to experiment with using artificial blood in the emergency room.

The chemically derived product has already been tried in elective surgery cases, and there have been no serious problems. But it has never been used for emergency cases.

The plan is to use it on those who have been injured severely and are thought to have a 50-50 chance of dying due to loss of blood.

In addition to getting the standard first aid, including human blood transfusions, half will also get the blood substitute.

needle

Because time is of the essence in such cases, neither the patients nor their families will be asked for permission to use the artificial blood. They will, however, have the option of shifting to human blood later.

Use of the blood is being permitted under new U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules. The premise is that in emergency situations, the artificial blood can't hurt and it might very well help.

If successful, blood offers several advantages

It will take a few years to find out if the blood works. Use of the artificial blood is to be expanded into a number of emergency rooms across the country, and at least 850 patients who have been treated with the blood will be studied before any conclusions are reached.

bottles

If the blood is successful, it offers several advantages over human blood.

For one thing, it will take some of the pressure off blood banks, which often run low in their supply of human blood.

Also, since it does not need to be refrigerated, it could easily be carried on ambulances.

And since it has not come from a human donor, there is no risk of spreading disease.

Finally, there is no need to match blood types. One type, as the saying goes, fits all.

Correspondent Dan Rutz contributed to this report.  
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