The constant warfare and violence of World War II (WWII) led to millions of casualties and injuries on the battlefield, as well as a tremendous need of blood for medical treatment. Nazi Germany began to carry out airstrikes on Great Britain, its greatest rival. An estimated 13,600 tons of explosives were fired, leaving irreversible destruction and wounding both civilians and soldiers (Mahone-Lonesome and King 5). The life-threatening injuries sustained from these weapons created a need for immediate blood transfusions. The understanding of blood in the 1940’s was limited, and the shelf life of blood was restricted. The blood used for transfusions could only be stored for a few days, because the red corpuscles that carry oxygen to the body’s tissues would begin to break down and make the blood useless (Mahone-Lonesome and King 16). There was a great need for new discoveries in the field of blood banking to make this storage
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Even before Charles Drew went into medicine, he experienced racial tensions that limited his opportunities. He was one of only 13 African Americans in a student population of 600 at Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1922 (“Charles Richard Drew”). He knew that his race could potentially limit his opportunities in his education and career. Nevertheless, Drew decided to pursue medicine, but continued to witness actions of prejudice in the schools he attended and the places he worked. The American Red Cross (ARC) had created a policy in which “only Caucasian blood would be acceptable for later administration to members of the military forces” (Wilson, O’Connor and Willis 96). The injustice present in Drew’s time drove him to fight for equality in his field. Charles Richard Drew’s contribution to the process of blood banking and his fight against racist policies in the medical field make him a catalyst for
Even before Charles Drew went into medicine, he experienced racial tensions that limited his opportunities. He was one of only 13 African Americans in a student population of 600 at Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1922 (“Charles Richard Drew”). He knew that his race could potentially limit his opportunities in his education and career. Nevertheless, Drew decided to pursue medicine, but continued to witness actions of prejudice in the schools he attended and the places he worked. The American Red Cross (ARC) had created a policy in which “only Caucasian blood would be acceptable for later administration to members of the military forces” (Wilson, O’Connor and Willis 96). The injustice present in Drew’s time drove him to fight for equality in his field. Charles Richard Drew’s contribution to the process of blood banking and his fight against racist policies in the medical field make him a catalyst for