Blood volunteers helped create lifeline

By Jo Perry
BBC Scotland News website

Today there are over 100,000 blood transfusions in Scotland a year

It is not often that the efforts of a child play such a central role in the establishment of a key service in society.

The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) is meeting in Stirling for a conference to discuss the latest developments in transfusion science and medicine.

But the meeting is also being held to honour the contribution of a father and son team, without whom, the lives of many would certainly have been lost.

John Copeland, now aged 90, assisted his father Jack in the 1930s when the concept of accessible blood transfusion services were virtually unknown in Scotland.

Dentist Jack Copeland set up a voluntary network of blood donors after watching the wife of a close friend die in 1929 because of a lack of blood.

He approached about 20 friends from a community group called the Noble Order of Crusaders who agreed to act as donors should they be called upon by staff at Edinburgh Infirmary.

John assisted his father by taking up to eight calls a night from the infirmary.

By the age of 14 , he was driving on his own to pick up the volunteers and take them to the hospital to donate.

I wish he was able to collect the award himself, I'm sure he would've been very happy to receive it John Copeland

He said: "I remember one night an eminent surgeon phoned up saying he had an emergency and needed a donor as soon as possible.

"I drove to Portobello for the donor and then to the hospital where the surgeon invited me in to watch the transfusion.

"I was led into a seat in an auditorium which overlooked a stage with very bright lights.

"I remember three nurses coming in and putting all the instruments needed for the operation onto a tray.

"The next thing the surgeon came in with the patient.

"He was a man who had been working as an ice distribution driver and a huge heavy block of frozen water had fallen onto his stomach.

"He was a poor fellow and in a very bad way.

"The next thing I saw was the surgeon taking a knife and cutting him from the neck right down to his stomach.

"I ran from the auditorium as quickly as I could and never looked back."

'Ordinary people'

Despite his ordeal, the partnership between father and son and the volunteers continued and served as a lifeline for many more years to ensure a steady blood supply for patients in the east of Scotland and beyond.

John continued to shuttle the growing number of donors to and from the hospital when they were needed until he joined the Royal Air Force following the outbreak of World War II.

After the war began, his father's proposal for a national donor service led to the formation of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Association in 1940.

He was appointed as its national organiser.

With the establishment of the NHS in 1948, the SNBTA became the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, still managed by the Association, but now receiving government funds to deliver the service.

The service now provides blood transfusions for more than 100,000 patients each year.

John Copeland shuttled donors to the hospital at the age of 14

John Copeland added: "I'm very proud of my father for what he did.

"It upset him enormously the fact that there was no provision for ordinary people.

"I wish he was able to collect the award himself, I'm sure he would've been very happy to receive it."

Mr Copeland and his late father are being honoured at the Scotblood conference, being held at the University of Stirling.

He is being given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the public health minister Shona Robison.

Alistair Masson, who wrote a History of Blood Transfusion in Scotland, paid tribute to the efforts of both men.

He said: "John, like his father, is a remarkable man.

"His selfless devotion to the cause at such a young age, along with the visionary zeal and tenacity of his father, ensured that Edinburgh and south east Scotland had an efficient donor organisation available to meet even the emergency of war."

Keith Thompson, national director of the SNBTS, added: "They were a driving force in establishing the service as we know it today and allowing SNBTS to meet the transfusion needs of all Scotland's patients into the future."