Glass 500 ml blood transfusion bottle

Glass bottle, of 500 ml capacity, sealed with a rubber stopper and a aluminium screw cap. An aluminium collar sits around the shoulder of the bottle. The cap has a small round opening to allow the insertion of intraveneous needles. The bottle is marked in gradations of 100 mils. A paper label pasted to the bottle identifies the origin of the bottle as National Blood Treansfusion Service (UK) and the blood type as O RH negative, and dated '10-8-66'. The base of the bottle is marked 'W499 G2 ^ 53 2 UGB' (United Glass Bottle Manufacturers).

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. The development of desiccated serum also took priority in the United States. Many of the techniques established during the Second World War were also used in Korea and Vietnam.