Blood transfusions

Blood transfusions

Here is a wiki link on what can be a very complicated subject worthy of professional medical opinion and experience:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_transfusion

I can always remember when doing a whole blood transfusion (one of the many kinds of transfusions) one needs a blood type match. I don’t know about matches due to other types of transfusions.  I do recall doing a mismatched blood transfusion will kill the patient, or at least make them very ill.

How does one determine a blood type in a primitive and home setting?  I don’t know a reliable and safe way. I do know my blood type from earlier determinations is the best I can do right now. I presume my blood type does not change, but don’t really know that for sure.  And some blood types will cross match for transfusions, but I don’t know that right now, either.  Here is a wiki link on the Rh system I am referring to, but it is more complicated than that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rh_blood_group_system

My bottom line:

1)      Seek professional medical help if and when you can, especially if you seek a transfusion.

2)      Do keep the ill patient as warm and hydrated as you can. As to hydration, don’t forget using enemas if necessary and as uninviting as it is to most people.  And if you can’t get access to any kind of electrolyte drink, use plain clean water or any kind of clean liquid, really.  At least boil rain water to kill the germs and viruses it will often have in it if you collect it from a puddle or out of a pond or lake. Often being very dehydrated is also very detrimental to an ill person, who needs all the help they can muster to heal themselves, which may be the last line of medical defense in more primitive situations.

3)      Keep the ill and the people taking care of them isolated as need be and as best you can. One very ill or dying person is one thing, but that is still better than the same for two or more people who also need their own support. Even when the Marines attacked into Kuwait during Desert Storm, we were briefed to expect 1/3 casualties (dead or injured, mostly from possible chemical warfare) so it can, and sometimes does happen.