who invented blood banks

The key figure most historians credit as the inventor of modern blood banks is Dr. Charles Richard Drew, often called the “father of the blood bank.”

Quick Scoop: Who “invented” blood banks?

• Name: Dr. Charles Richard Drew (1904–1950)

• Profession: Surgeon and medical researcher specializing in blood and plasma.

• Main achievement: Developed large‑scale methods to collect, process, and store blood plasma, making long‑term storage and mass blood banking possible.

• Nickname: Widely known as the “father of the blood bank” because his work laid the foundation for modern blood banking systems used worldwide.

Why Charles Drew is linked to “who invented blood banks”

Before Drew, blood transfusion was limited because whole blood spoiled quickly and was hard to store or transport at scale. Drew and collaborators developed a way to separate and preserve plasma, which could last much longer and be safely shipped.

In 1940–41, he led the “Blood for Britain” program, which collected and processed thousands of units of plasma in the U.S. and shipped them to treat wounded soldiers in World War II, demonstrating that a centralized, large‑scale blood bank system could work. This model then shaped the first major American Red Cross blood banks and later national blood donation services.

Because of this combination of scientific innovation (plasma preservation) and organizational design (central labs, standard methods, mobile units), modern sources describe Drew as the pioneering figure whose work effectively “invented” the blood bank as we know it.

A bit of nuance

If you go deep into medical history, you’ll find earlier experiments and smaller “blood depots” before Drew, but they were local, short‑term arrangements and lacked his scalable technology and systems. That’s why, in today’s discussions, when people ask “who invented blood banks,” the standard answer is Dr. Charles Richard Drew.🩸

TL;DR:
Dr. Charles Richard Drew is widely regarded as the “father of the blood bank” because he developed the practical methods and large‑scale systems that turned blood banking into a reliable, modern, life‑saving practice.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.