The aftermath of the fire saw the first major use of MGH's new blood bank, one of the area's first, established in April 1942 and stocked with 200 units of dried plasma as part of its preparations for the war. A total of 147 units of plasma were used in treating 29 patients at MGH. At BCH, where the Office of Civilian Defense had stored 500 units of plasma for wartime use, 98 patients received a total of 693 units of plasma, which included plasma donated by the US Navy, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, and the American Red Cross. The volume of plasma used in treating the victims of the Cocoanut Grove surpassed that used during the attack on Pearl Harbor. In the days following the fire, twelve hundred people donated over 3,800 units of blood to the blood bank.