Thanks for the links Jeffery. I enjoyed this quote from the first article.
But there are still circumstances when blood transfusion is necessary, and the patient would probably die if they did not receive one, says University of Sydney professor James Isbister, a consultant on haemotology and blood transfusion who chairs the Red Cross advisory board.
Storing your own blood (which as you mentioned isn't WT-approved) won't save you in an acute trauma situation with heavy blood loss.
The WT is trying to lower the death-toll without doing an obvious 180 degree flip-flop on this issue, IMO.
OM