- Country:Canada
- Collection:Gold Commemorative $5
- Metal:Gold
- Year:2011
- Denomination:$5
- Finish:Complete
- Weight (oz):0.1
- Purity:0.9999
- Mintage:1457
- Product type:Coin
Our FIRST EVER single 1/10-ounce pure gold coin, crafted in 99.99% pure gold. Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the creation of the world's first mobile blood transfusion vehicle by Canadian physician and medical inventor Dr. Norman Bethune.
Highlights:
Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the creation of the world's first mobile blood transfusion vehicle by Canadian physician and medical inventor Dr. Norman Bethune. Crafted in 99.99% pure gold, hand polished to proof perfection.
Packaging:
Coin is encapsulated and presented in a maroon clamshell case lined withflock and protected by a black sleeve.
Life-saving innovation on the front lines.
It was 1936, on the front lines of theSpanish Civil War, when one of medicine'smost memorable figures re-defined thevery essence of military medicine.
Canadian-born Dr. Henry Norman Bethune(1890Ã1939) was dismayed to see thatsome 75% of wounded soldiers were dyingof blood loss when their injuries shouldnot have been fatal. He recognized thatprecious time was being lost transportingthe wounded to medical facilities, anddeveloped a way to bring medical caredirectly to them in the field.
Bethune began collecting blood fromvolunteer donors and set about thechallenging task of refrigerating the bloodand transporting it-along with criticaldressings and surgical tools; to the frontlines. It was a stunning innovation thatenabled Bethune and his small medicalteam to perform as many as 100 bloodtransfusions in the field every day-andsave thousands of lives.
Bethune's mobile blood transfusionunit is just one of many breakthroughcontributions he made to the evolutionof medicine. Indeed, it's credited withinspiring the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital(M.A.S.H.) units that appeared during theKorean War.
