About this episode
Contributor: Dave Rosenberg, MD Educational Pearls: In 1951, Operation Tat-Type began tattooing adults with their blood type in an effort to prepare for rapid transfusions in the time of the Cold War and the Korean War School children in northern Indiana and areas in Utah were tattooed with their blood type beginning in 1952 under the same operation Based on tattoos given to SS officers during WWII This wasn't to identify who needed what blood but rather to identify who could give what blood in the event of a massive attack References Wolf EK, Laumann AE. The use of blood-type tattoos during the Cold War. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2008;58(3):472-476. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2007.11.019 Summarized by John Spartz, MS3 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD The Emergency Medical Minute is excited to announce that we are now offering AMA PRA Category 1 credits™ via online course modules. To access these and for more information, visit our website at www.emergencymedicalminute.com/cme-courses/ and create an account. Donate to EMM today!