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Charles
R. Drew
Copyright © All rights reserved
By Anthony James & Ken Chapman
Abridged by Beth Lanier
The following abridged biography is taken from The Shoulders of Giants
by Anthony James and Ken Chapman.
The Shoulders of Giants can be purchased at Amazon.com,
BooksaMillion.com, and
BarnesandNoble.com.
Charles R. Drew, the “Father of Blood Plasma”, gained international
prominence as the pioneer of the preservation of blood plasma and the
establishment of blood banks for emergency needs. His system for the safe
storage of blood plasma saved thousands of military lives during World War
II and laid the foundation for the blood program of the American Red Cross.
Charles Richard Drew was born in Washington, D.C., on June 3, 1904. He
received an athletic scholarship to Amherst College, graduating in 1929 with
numerous awards for his athletic achievements. Drew later attended McGill
Medical College where he graduated with high honors in 1933 with the degrees
of M.D., Medical Doctor, and C.M., master of surgery.
It
was during further studies at Columbia University that Drew began working
with a research team on blood chemistry and storage. They demonstrated that
plasma, unlike whole blood, could be stored unrefrigerated for months
without spoiling. In addition, patients could receive plasma without
matching blood types. Based on these findings, Drew’s dissertation thesis,
published in 1941, proposed the storing of plasma rather than whole blood in
blood banks.
During World War II, Drew was appointed Director of the American Red Cross
Bank and became Assistant for the National Research Council’s Blood
Procurement Program where he was in charge of blood to be used by the Army
and Navy. Both the collection and shipping of blood plasma to Great Britain
and the National Blood Bank Program were successes. By 1941, Britain had
taken over its blood bank operations and the American Red Cross had set up
blood donor stations to collect blood plasma for the American War Effort.
After
just three months, the program was operating smoothly; however, Drew
resigned his directorship after the armed forces directed the Red Cross to
accept only Caucasian blood for transfusion to military personnel. In his
resignation statement, Drew said, “I feel that the ruling of the United
States Army and Navy regarding the refusal of colored blood donors is an
indefensible one from any point of view. There is no scientific basis for
the separation of the blood of different races, except on the basis of the
individual blood types or groups.” Drew returned to Howard University as a
professor and hospital director. He was highly recognized for his
contributions to science, becoming the first black person to serve as a
surgeon consultant to the Surgeon General of the United States Army in 1949.
In
March 1950, at age 45, Drew sustained severe chest injuries in a car
accident and died shortly after arriving at the hospital. Conflicting
reports exist about the care Drew received. According to Crisis Magazine,
he was taken to the Almance County Hospital where he received “excellent
care including blood and plasma transfusions”, but died a short time later.
The New York Times reported that he was taken to a “segregated hospital that
did not have any blood plasma that might have saved his life.” In either
case, the world had lost a committed public servant, one whose contributions
have continued to save the lives of many in war and peace.
For information about Ken
Chapman and Associates’ Leadership Development Programs, contact Ken Chapman
at 205.366.0265 or email Ken at
kchapman@leaderscode.com.
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