Canadian Blood Services wants to revive WWII-era dried plasma use

Canadian Blood Services is looking to resuscitate the use of dried plasma — a life-saving battlefield measure that helped injured soldiers during the Second World War.

Canadian Blood Services is looking to resuscitate the use of dried plasma — a life-saving battlefield measure that helped injured soldiers during the Second World War and the Korean War.

The non-profit organization is partnering with the Department of National Defence on this “innovative” project funded by Veterans Affairs Canada that will involve research on how to safely produce dried blood plasma.

“Having a blood component that is dried will allow access to life-saving products in regions that’s not currently available,” Chantale Pambrun, senior medical director of innovation and portfolio management at the Canadian Blood Services, said in an interview with Global News on Wednesday.

The goal is to be able to take plasma from Canadian donors, dry it in a way that is safe and effective, and then transport it into a lightweight container that is easy to carry and able to withstand battlefield conditions over a prolonged period, Pambrun said.

She said a good analogy for this project is the use of freeze-dried strawberries in cereals that can sit on the shelf for months, compared with fresh strawberries that go bad faster in the fridge.

What that drying process will look like still needs to be determined and will require partnerships with medical device manufacturers that specialize in this, Pambrun said.

During the Second World War, freeze-drying technology was developed and widely used for serum, which is a component of plasma (a part of blood containing important clotting proteins that help stop bleeding).

Pambrun said dried plasma can be reconstituted by adding sterile water.