<P> The use of blood plasma as a substitute for whole blood and for transfusion purposes was proposed in March 1918, in the correspondence columns of the British Medical Journal, by Gordon R. Ward . "Dried plasmas" in powder or strips of material format were developed and first used in World War II . Prior to the United States' involvement in the war, liquid plasma and whole blood were used . </P> <P> The "Blood for Britain" program during the early 1940s was quite successful (and popular in the United States) based on Charles Drew's contribution . A large project began in August 1940 to collect blood in New York City hospitals for the export of plasma to Britain . Drew was appointed medical supervisor of the "Plasma for Britain" project . His notable contribution at this time was to transform the test tube methods of many blood researchers into the first successful mass production techniques . </P> <P> Nonetheless (?), the decision was made to develop a dried plasma package for the armed forces as it would reduce breakage and make the transportation, packaging, and storage much simpler . The resulting dried plasma package came in two tin cans containing 400 cc bottles . One bottle contained enough distilled water to reconstitute the dried plasma contained within the other bottle . In about three minutes, the plasma would be ready to use and could stay fresh for around four hours . The Blood for Britain program operated successfully for five months, with total collections of almost 15,000 people donating blood, and with over 5,500 vials of blood plasma . </P> <P> Following the "Plasma for Britain" invention, Drew was named director of the Red Cross blood bank and assistant director of the National Research Council, in charge of blood collection for the United States Army and Navy . Drew argued against the armed forces directive that blood / plasma was to be separated by the race of the donor . Drew argued that there was no racial difference in human blood and that the policy would lead to needless deaths as soldiers and sailors were required to wait for "same race" blood . </P>

The total salt content of blood is about