SAN DIEGO—The use of whole blood in trauma patients owes the majority of its experience to military settings dating back to World War I, when the British transfused whole blood between soldiers using stainless steel needles. By the start of the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army had switched to component therapy, only to see the return to whole blood in the 2000s with military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“And now, we’re starting to see this use of whole blood again in civilian