Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
BLOOD BANK
Blood Bank. An effective method of preserving and transfusing human blood and its components. In October, 1940 Mother Mary Ursula, the Mother Superior and superintendent of Mercy Hospital announced the establishment of Dubuque's first blood bank.
The announcement stated that the bank would soon be functioning with approximately fifty "flasks", each holding a pint of human blood. Volunteer donors came from the DUBUQUE PACKING COMPANY. These people were furnishing the initial supply of all types of blood for the bank which would be operated by maintaining a constant balance between withdrawals and deposits.
Blood obtained from the bank for patients had to be repaid with blood and could not be purchased directly from the bank for cash. The blood for replacement had to be obtained from either a family donor or from a professional donor paid by the patient as soon as any blood was withdrawn. Arrangements were made to develop sources of blood to make up withdrawals when blood was out of date or when a recipient had neither family or friends to serve as donors.