WWII 'Critical Care' Battlefield Therapy Still Saving Lives
By: Kym H. Kilbourne
Human serum albumin is the most abundant protein in human plasma. The plasma protein therapy is widely used to treat severe conditions such as burns, trauma and shock. Albumin has a proven safety track record, having been used for more than 50 years by tens of millions of patients worldwide.
Albumin is one of the three key plasma-derived therapies that manufacturers must produce from the raw starting material in order for the fractionation operation to thrive. Because source plasma is difficult and expensive to obtain, maximizing the use of the resource is an essential part of the manufacturing process.
First developed by Edwin J. Cohn, a prominent scientist who developed the fractionation process to isolate serum albumin from plasma, albumin was used during World War II to save countless lives. Transfusions with purified albumin on the battlefields rescued thousands of soldiers from shock, and albumin remains in use today in critical care settings. In fact, during the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, it is significant to note that while all air traffic in the country was halted, the Federal Aviation Administration granted clearance for a jet from one plasma protein therapy manufacturer carrying life-saving albumin to land in New York. A therapy used to treat severe and extensive burns, the critical medical treatment properties of albumin were recognized as essential despite the ultimately devastating lack of need for the therapy at the site of the Twin Towers.
Kym H. Kilbourne is PPTA’s assistant director of North America communications.