The Spanish Civil War marked a new era in blood transfusion medicine. Frederic Duran Jord and Carlos Elsegui Sarasoles, directors, respectively, of the blood transfusion services of the Republican Army and of the insurgent forces, were innovators in the field of indirect blood transfusion with preserved blood. Not only had they to create transfusion services, almost from scratch, capable of supplying campaigning armies with blood in wartime conditions, they also had to struggle against the medical establishment and to convince their medical peers of the value (not to mention the scientific significance) of what they were doing.
The Blood Transfusion Service of the Republic was a truly international effort, with medical volunteers from all over the world carrying out transfusion work in primitive and often dangerous conditions. All took their lead from one man, the young Catalan haematologist Frederic Duran Jord, the indisputable pioneer of civil war blood transfusion medicine. From humble beginnings at the outbreak of war, blood transfusion services were created in Spain that would later become crucial in the treatment of casualties during the Second World War and would shape the future evolution of blood transfusion medicine throughout the developed world.
Linda Palfreeman is Lecturer in Journalism at the University of Cardenal Herrera, Elche, Spain. Her research on local aspects of the Spanish Civil War and of the International Brigades Medical Service resulted in Salud! British Volunteers in the Republican Medical Service during the Spanish Civil War, 19361939 (2012), followed by Aristocrats, Adventurers and Ambulances: British Medical Units in the Spanish Civil War (2013). Spain Bleeds, the final book in this informal trilogy, continues to provide long unavailable information on health care and medical assistance during wartime.
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Copyright Linda Palfreeman, 2015.
Published in the Sussex Academic e-Library, 2015.
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Published in collaboration with the Caada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies, London School of Economics.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Palfreeman, Linda.
Spain bleeds : the development of battlefield blood transfusion during the Civil War / Linda Palfreeman.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-84519-717-9 (hardback : alkaline paper)
ISBN 978-1-78284-250-7 (e-pub
ISBN 978-1-78284-251-4 (e-mobi)
ISBN 978-1-78284-252-1 (e-pdf)
1. SpainHistoryCivil War, 19361939Medical care. 2. BloodTransfusionSpainHistory20th century. 3. PhysiciansSpainBiography 4. Spain. Ejrcito Popular de la RepblicaMedical careHistory. 5. Medicine, MilitarySpainHistory20th century. I. Title.
