to the idea of blood being stored as the Spanish Revolution was underway and he immediately realized the multitude of possibilities and the abundance of lives that could be saved, especially in times of war, that storing blood for transfusion presented. From information he obtained from Russian publications, Fantus learned that storing blood was a rather simple process and that establishing some sort of laboratory for it in the United States would not be very complicated. From that point on, Fantus made it his mission to establish a laboratory where blood could be stored. His daughter Ruth is credited with coming up with the term "blood bank," a phrase which Fantus readily accepted because everyone in society knows how a bank works, and the process of storing blood was essentially analogous. World War II spurred Fantus on as he wanted to use the blood from people state side to save the lives of U.S. soldiers overseas. He thus spent years in the laboratory perfecting methods of transfusion. Fantus secured permission, spread the word of the establishment, obtained a suitable room at Cook County Hospital, and put Dr. Elizabeth Schermer in charge of the laboratory. The blood bank officially opened on March 15, 1937. Memberships American Medical Association American Pharmacists Association American Association for the Advancement of Science American College of Physicians Chicago Society of Internal Medicine National Formulary American Public Health Association Source: Works Articles References External links 1874 births 1940 deaths American pharmacologists Burials at Forest Home Cemetery, Chicago American hospital administrators University of Michigan alumni University of Illinois Chicago alumni