Bottle of dried pooled human serum for transfusion

Glass bottle with a wax-sealed metal screw cap. A paper label glued to bottle reads: 'DRIED POOLED HUMAN SERUM FOR TRANSFUSION. Volume: 400 cc. Prepared from blood given by donors of the AUSTRALIAN RED CROSS BLOOD TRANSFUSION SERVICE (NSW DIVISION). A paragraph of directions for use follows then 'Batch No: A59; Bottle No: 6481; Collected: 2-8-44; Bottled: 8-8-44.'. The base of the bottle is marked AGM (Australian Glass Manufacturers) and impressed 1943.

After an inter-war hiatus, the Second World War provided a real impetus to the development of blood transfusion and storage, and the preparation of plasma and serum. In Australia, the outbreak of war saw the formation of a Medical Coordination Committee which recommended that the Red Cross should take responsibility of blood donor recruitment; this was developed in conjunction with the New South Wales Blood Transfusion Service which concentrated on serum preparation. Additionally, 2 Australian Blood and Serum Preparation Unit was formed to handle the frontline organisation of blood and serum distribution. Serum proved life-saving in the treatment of burns victims (many thousands of whom required treatment during this conflict), demanding a high workload on the Blood Transfusion Service. The development of desiccated serum also took priority in the United States, with research and commercial development led by the pharmaceutical company of Eli Lilly and Company of Indianapolis, Indiana, who had, by 1943, developed the means for full-scale production of penicillin. The Australian Red Cross supplied huge amounts of blood, plasma and serum to American Pacific Forces, and much American material, usually supply by Eli Lilly, was used in Australia.