keynote speakers anchor joint meeting o scabb hits the road!o keynote speakers anchor joint meeting...
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SCABB is partnering with like-minded organizationsand either sponsoring speakers, exhibiting or pre-senting at several events this year. If you have col-leagues in any of these areas, share the informationwith them now so they can see first-hand the manybenefits of membership with South CentralAssociation of Blood Banks.
March 26th – ASCLS Symposium in Salt Lake City,UT – Dr. Nicole Draper from the University ofColorado will be the keynote speaker sponsored bySouth Central. In addition, SCABB will exhibit atthe meetings trade show.
April 14th – 15th – The 2015 American Society ofClinical Laboratory Science Bi State Louisiana &Mississippi Meeting. SCABB will exhibit at themeetings tradeshow and promote membership inthe organization.
May 13th – The Florida Association of Blood BanksAnnual Meeting – Pre-Meeting Symposium. In addi-tion, SCABB will exhibit at the meetings tradeshow.
Mark your calendar and spread the news SCABB iscoming to a city near YOU!
O SCABB Hits the Road!
1 www.scabb.org
February, March, April 2015
Meet the Opening and Closing Plenary Speakers
Opening Plenary: Howard Manns CEO, Professional Healthcare Development
SUCCESS & Lunacy : What’s the Connection?Are you crazy? You may be on the right track! Do you dream about the per-son you’d like to be? Is there another “you” inside that knows they can makea difference in your career or live the life you’ve always wanted? This pro-gram lays out the rules for success – a perspective of how being a little “off”might be the secret. History shows that the people who end up changing theworld are considered nuts, until they’re right, then, they’re geniuses. Learnhow to “live out loud” and remember impossible is only an opinion.
Attendees will gain a new perspective on:
• Craziness and Insanity – We may already be insane whether we know it or not. • The two mostimportant days of your life! • Mental Illness or Mental Skillness? A thin line exists between genius andpsychopath. • Time Passages – One year from now, what will you wish you had started doing today?
Closing Plenary: James HsuCEO, Mobilizing People Marketing, (MPM)
Known as "Hsuperman," James Hsu is an author and motivational speakerwho connects, inspires, and impacts people to "TAKE ACTION." Motivationwithout action is nothing more than an illusion. Anyone can have 1,000Facebook friends. But how many of these people would show up in person ifyou extended an invitation? James has broken down what he has learnedinto the method he calls, "Mobilizing People." An excellent tool for your per-sonal development as well as recruiting for blood drives.
O Keynote Speakers Anchor Joint Meeting
Keynote Speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Welcome New Members . . . . . . . . . 3Scholarships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Journal Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Employment Opportunities . . . . . . 6Sustaining Members . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
IN THIS ISSUE
June 2-5, 2015 • www.jointmeeting.net
Download the 2015 Joint Meeting Preliminary Program now at www.jointmeeting.net.
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Tom ChoiBlood Systems Inc.Dear fellow SCABB members,
As we get closer to thenext joint SCABB-CBBSmeeting to be held in LasVegas June 2-5 I can’thelp but think back on my
career and the reasons why I started gettinginvolved in the various national and regional bloodbanking associations.
I started working in the blood industry over 27 yearsago. At that time in my life I wasn’t drawn to theindustry because of its mission driven and altruisticoriented bent. Heck I didn’t even know what altruis-tic meant back then!! I got into this industrybecause I needed a job plain and simple. I knewabsolutely nothing about the industry includingwhere hospitals got the blood products they trans-fused. I remember how surprised I was when I foundout that the high school I graduated from actuallyheld blood drives and I never even knew it. Wow.
Anyway, I took the job initially because I had a fami-ly to feed and bills to pay. I had no intention of mak-ing a career out of my new job back then. I hadother plans for my life. But then something hap-pened over the years and here I am many yearslater. My change in attitude and plans for my lifereally started after I attended my very first industrymeeting. It was at an AABB annual meeting. I don’tremember where the meeting was held (it was 27years ago after all!), but I do remember the feelingof belonging to and being a part of something big-ger than just my job and my own particular bloodcenter. The whole aspect of our life saving missionfinally hit home with me and my life has never beenthe same. As clichéd as that sounds and as stressedout and frustrated as I sometimes get with my job,the industry and just the whole world in general atthe end of each day I can honestly say that I playedsome role in making someone else’s life better. I mayhave even played a part in saving someone’s life.That doesn’t always resonate with me especiallynow that I’m not as close to the actual recruiting,manufacturing and delivering of any actual bloodanymore. But there are times usually late at nightwhen I’m lying in the dark thinking about work orsome problem associated with work and I’m tryingto stop thinking negative thoughts when I focus onthe best part of what we all do and that is that weget the extremely unique and rare opportunity topositively impact a life when someone is at theirmost vulnerable. If you’ve ever been a patient orknown someone who is or was then you know howvulnerable the whole experience makes one feel.
Someone’s life somewhere even as I write this isbeing impacted by my actions and yours as well.Just my thinking about our jobs and the things we’llneed to do and decisions we’ll need to make tomor-row that we will share with our co-workers will keepin motion processes and actions that will result in usdoing the things that we all do that can and willsave a life. There are very few feelings in the worldthat can match that when that realization breaksthrough all of the other “noise in the backgrounds ofour minds.”
(continued on page4)
O President’s Message
2 www.scabb.org
When you hear theword leadershipwhat do you think?Webster’s diction-ary defines it as“the power or abili-ty to lead otherpeople”. So whatdo you think givesone the ability orpower to lead? Is itinherent or learned?
There are people who seem to possess aninherent charisma that lend them to greatleadership. Significant historical figurescome to mind like Martin Luther King,Eleanor Roosevelt and General Patton. Ialso think of present day leaders like LeeIacocca, Bill Gates and Pope Francis.These individuals all seem to be born lead-ers, but very few people are truly bornwith that ability. Even the greatest leadershave stumbled along their path, you learnand develop leadership throughout yourlife through experience and study.
I am a fan of John Maxwell and one book Iparticularly like is “The 21 IndispensableQualities of a Leader.” I am using thisbook as part of a leadership pathway pro-gram we developed for our front linesupervisors. It was good for me to read itagain and to think through the qualitiesthat he outlines in this book. All 21 of thequalities are important but a few stand outfor me right now and they are passion,courage and teachability.
Our industry is going through a challeng-ing time. If you have been in blood bank-ing for many years you understand youcan’t do things the same way as you havemanaged in the past. You need courage tochange and make difficult decisions, thepassion to keep going and the teachabilityto keep learning.
Courage, as described by Karl Barth, aSwiss Theologian, is fear that has said itsprayers. When you look to the future of achanging world whether that is in yourblood center, hospital or personal life itcan be a bit frightening. As a leader youcannot let that fear paralyze you, standingstill does not usually work. Making thosetough decisions that will often impact thelives of others is very difficult, so you haveto reach inside you for that courage. Ifyou have not had to exercise this traitoften you will have to work at it. Once youmake those hard decisions and face thechallenge, that in the long run will have apositive outcome, you will grow as aleader.
Finding courage to make the hard deci-sions will be much easier if you have pas-sion for what you do. Our greatestachievements in medicine from transplan-tation, trauma to cancer therapies wouldnot be possible without blood products, sohow can you not be passionate aboutblood donation? Though with our day today tasks, problems, new regulations andour ever changing environment, even thebest of leaders can feel that passion fade.When I talk to new staff about our missionand see the excitement and anticipation intheir faces I become more enthusiastic. Ialso think about the lives we touch everyday, people like my mother and father whoboth received blood and how it impactedtheir lives, and I know that we truly makea difference. We each have to find whatignites the fire within us to live more fullyand then we can better lead.
The other trait that is always important is‘teachability.” John Wooden, Hall of Famebasketball coach said, “It’s what you learnafter you know it all that counts.” I amsure you have all heard the old adage thatleaders read, and readers lead, and itseems quite true. I, however, find it diffi-cult to make time to sit down and readleadership and management books withconsistency. What is nice today is thatthere are many ways we can “read.” I havefound that listening to audio books when Idrive is a good way to keep up on my“reading.” You can also participate inblogs and listen to podcasts. "We are allinundated with information hourly, well,perhaps by the minute; making keeping upwith the news impossible. Get a systemand read when you can.
You also have to be open to learn fromothers; a mentor, another leader and yourteam. I have learned a great deal over theyears by watching and observing otherleaders, some great, some good, and a fewnot really my style. You also have to askquestions from the “people who do thework.” It may be easier to just make adecision on a new policy or process butwithout the input of those who will make ithappen you are doomed from the start. Ithink people are our greatest treasurewhen it comes to learning, so make time tostop, listen and ask.
I hope you fire up your passion, find thecourage to make those hard decisions andnever stop learning!
Jeannie Gardner, RNImmediate Past President, SCABBOklahoma Blood Institute
O DNA of a Great Leader
O Welcome New Members
Caroline Alquist920 Poeyfarre Street,Unit 418New Orleans, LA 70130Office: [email protected] Type:Individual Physician
Dan EnriquezBanner Desert MedicalCenter3847 E Clovis Ave, Mesa, AZ 85206Office: [email protected] Type:Individual
Wyenona Hicks26 Juniper PassTerrace, Ocala, FL 34480Office: [email protected] Type:Individual
Tina IpeHouston MethodistHospital6565 Fannin Street -MS 225, Houston, TX 77030Office: [email protected] Type:Individual Physician
Michelle JohnsonCarter BloodCare2205 Highway 121, Bedford, TX 76021Office: [email protected] Type:Individual
Todd Nishimoto2 Carter BloodCareCarter BloodCare,2205 Highway 121Bedford, TX 76021Office: [email protected] Type:Individual Physician
Timipre NyanasimeibiUniversity of TexasMedical Branch2432 Collier Dr, Mckinney, TX 75071Office: (469)[email protected] Type: Student
Rebecca PerryNational Institutes ofHealth10 Center Drive,Building 10 1C711Bethesda, MD 21287Office: (310) [email protected] Type:Individual
On behalf of the South Central Association of Blood Banks and theSCABB Membership committee, we would like to extend a warm wel-come to our new members:
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The 2015 South Central Association of BloodBanks & California Blood Bank Society JointMeeting Registration is NOW OPEN! "ComeTogether" takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada, June 2-5 at the beautiful Mirage Resort!
A comprehensive educational program has been planned in key areas of Administrative,Technical/Scientific, Donor Recruitment, QSC andApheresis Nursing disciplines that you will notwant to miss! The exhibit hall will showcase elitevendors in the industry so you can see first-handthe new equipment, resources and tools available.
Register Now!Deadline for early bird registration is April 30,2015. Those registering by the early bird regis-tration deadline for the Joint Meeting will beentered for a chance to win a complimentaryhotel stay at The Mirage during the joint meetingdates!
The PRELIMINARY PROGRAM is available onlineand outlines all the educational offerings, vendorinteraction opportunities and networking eventsplanned for this year’s meeting. It is also a ter-rific tool to use to request management approvalfor attending the joint meeting.
A special conference rate of $135 + tax has beensecured for attendees at the Mirage. The dead-line to make your hotel reservation and receivethe conference rate is April 30, 2015. CLICKHERE to make your hotel reservation today.
O Joint Meeting Registration Now Open
The Raymond St. Peter Scholarship was estab-lished by the family of Raymond St. Peter tohonor Ray's love of blood banking and his dedi-cation, not only to supporting the South CentralAssociation of Blood Banks, but his dedication toserving donors and patients. Deadline to apply isApril 2, 2015. CLICK HERE for more informationand to apply.
The Joint Meeting Attendee Scholarship isawarded to members in good standing on asneeded basis. Individual members or thoseemployed by an institutional member mayrequest funds to be applied toward costs associ-ated with attendance at the Joint Meeting.Deadline to apply is April 2, 2015. CLICK HEREfor more information and to apply.
The CBBS Educational Fund Award. The pur-pose of this Award is to provide financial assis-tance, when there is a need, to enable transfusionmedicine professionals, blood bank fellows, ornursing, medical technology or SBB students toattend a CBBS Regional Seminar or the CBBSAnnual Meeting. CLICK HERE for more informa-tion and to apply.
Scholarships are Availableto Attend the Joint Meeting!W
What about AIMS?By Sandy Wortman, MT(ASCP)SBBAIMs Committee Chair
The Advanced Immunohematology andMolecular Symposium (AIMS) has accompaniedthe annual SCABB conference the past fiveyears. It was designed to be targeted towards
people passionate about Immunohematologyand seeking continuing education in the fieldsof Immunohematology and/or reference labora-tory work including molecular testing.
In order to stay relevant, provide easy nationalaccess for the symposium’s attendees andorganize an outstanding program for your pro-fessional development, it was decided that the
AIMS symposium will be offered in conjunctionwith the SCABB annual meeting every otheryear.
So mark your calendars and be ready for thetop notch educational sessions, peer interac-tion, vendor contacts and hot topics the AIMscommittee will have lined up for you upon thenext AIMS symposium in Houston, Texas 2016.
O Where Did AIMS Go This Year?
4 www.scabb.org
SPONSOR, PLAY OR BOTH!Please join us for the annual Ed Moore Golf Classic
at Badlands Golf Course in Las Vegas, Nevada. Invite
a current client to play or meet new clients on the
course, either way you are sure to expand your com-
pany exposure by sponsorship or player participa-
tion in our golf tournament.
Proceeds from the tournament will benefit the
South Central Association of Blood Banks
Foundation, which enhances the educational goals
of the association through monetary support of cur-
rent program offerings and member scholarships.
SPONSORHole Sponsorship $150
* 18 available
Contest Hole Sponsorship $250* Longest Drive – 2 available* Closest to the Pin – 2 available
Single Player $85
4-Player Team $340
uClick Here to Register.
President’s Message(continued from page 2)
So why am I being so philosophical? I’m doing so to try to encourage all of you toinvest further into your chosen profession. More specifically I’m challenging you toinvest in yourself in your chosen profession. If you have chosen this industry asyour career, or rather if this profession has chosen you, because I do believe thatnon-profit missions choose us, and if you are anything like me it takes almost totalimmersion into an endeavor to make that “background noise” I referred to previ-ously recede enough for me to reach that part of me that responds with an all-encompassing emotional engagement into anything including my life’s work. Theseare not just jobs. To categorize what we all do, as just a job is to minimize humanlife and the impact that we all have on patients lives. If what we all do is just a jobto us then we are missing out on what I believe is at least a small part of theanswer to the age-old question of why we are here. Call it helping each other, mak-ing a difference, saving a life, or doing God’s work. Whatever. It all fits.
So if you’re ready to fire up those synapses that will help to engage your innerMother Teresa or if you’re ready to add to or start investing in your skills and indus-try knowledge I hope that you will join everyone at the 2015 joint SCABB-CBBSmeeting scheduled for June 2-5 in Las Vegas at the Mirage Resort. Meet newacquaintances or see old friends and colleagues. Pick up valuable professionalknowledge and information at any of the numerous educational sessions. Tochoose your educational sessions or to plan your extra-curricular activities like vis-iting the vendor exhibit hall or play in the Eddie Moore Memorial Golf Tournamentgo to www.SCABB.org now for early registration. I look forward to seeing youthere. Peace and God Bless.
Tom
O Strategic Planning for South Central
Christie Loe Malone, Vice President, SCABBChair, Planning Committee
The single largest responsibility for the South Central Vice President toaccomplish each year is to serve as the chair of the planning committee andlead a comprehensive review of the Association’s strategic plan. It has beenmy privilege to collaborate with the other leaders of South Central to accom-plish this objective for the 2014-15 and to share our work product, in brief,with our membership.
We have established three key initiatives that define our primary focus areas:
1. Ensure Association Financial Stability 2. Expand Collaboration with like-minded Associations3. Establish Association Leadership Succession Plan
Supporting those key initiatives are three year goals below:
1. Increase Annual Membership Revenue by 33%2. Increase Education Event Revenue by 10%3. Ensure >10 months Operating Budget held in Reserves4. Formalize collaboration with 4 Associations5. Two Successfully completed Association Leadership Coaching Cycles
In the near term (next twelve months), we plan to work toward achievingthese goals through several tactics, such as: targeted membership recruit-ment and retention efforts both within the SCABB membership territory aswell as outside our current member states; collaboration with our vendorpartners to increase their participation though Associate Corporate member-ships; and creation of an onboarding informational kit for incoming boardmembers. We are pleased to report that the membership committee hasimproved the Associate Corporate membership and has added the premiummembership category this year. Additionally, to meet these objectives we are“hitting the road” (see page 1) to share the many benefits of SCABB member-ship in Utah, Florida and Louisiana. These are improvements/initiatives bornefrom the strategic planning process.
It is importation to emphasize that these initiatives work on the assumptionsthat existing members continue to support the Association. Every one of us isintegral in the continued longevity of the South Central Association.
O Article Review:
Business continuity in blood servic-es: two case studies from eventswith potentially catastrophic effecton the national provision of bloodcomponents.
Morgan SJ, Rackham RA, Penny S, LawsonJR, Walsh RJ, Ismay SL
Vox Sanguinis 2015, 108:151-159
Review by: Mary Berg, MD
In 2012, two unexpected events, one a naturaldisaster and the other a man-made disaster,caused two large blood service organizationsto implement their disaster plans. This articledescribes the inciting events, contributingfactors, and responses to these two events,including lessons learned. It provides recom-mendations for others to incorporate intotheir own disaster plans.
In September 2012, the National HealthService Blood and Transplant (NHSBT)Service, which provides blood components toEngland and Wales, experienced flooding atthe Filton Blood Centre, which at that timewas responsible for 43% of the national RBCproduction, 41% of other component produc-tion, and 45% of all donor testing. Otherspecial services (e.g. the national bone mar-row registry) are also housed there. Between5 and 20 cm of water entered the facility,with resulting loss in all power, data services,and telephones. This left the building with norefrigeration, environmental monitoring, or airhandling. Local and national emergencyteams were activated. The fire departmentwas called and they advised that the buildingbe evacuated. Non-essential staff left thebuilding while the remaining staff worked toraise equipment off the floor and removethousands of refrigerated, frozen, and roomtemperature blood components from thebuilding. Water receded by the evening ofthat day, but it took several days to fullyrestore power, make repairs, clean, andrequalify equipment. While all of this washappening, deliveries to hospitals and otherservices were taken over by other NHSBTcenters. The Filton Centre was not back tofull operations until October 2nd, but duringthe event, deliveries to hospitals continueduninterrupted through the support of theother NHSBT centers. NHSBT performed aroot cause analysis and made changes totheir disaster plan based on their findings.Among their key learning points were theneed to change the local and national emer-gency team system, changes in training offire marshals and wardens, and improvedcommunication with staff when normalmeans of communication are not available.
Australian Red Cross Blood Services(ARCBS) is the sole provider of blood prod-ucts in Australia. In July, 2012, their informa-
O Journal Clubtion system, the National Blood ManagementSystem (NBMS) failed. For a variety of rea-sons, they continued to operate using manualcontingency procedures for 42 hours beforethey transitioned to their disaster recoverysystem. The disaster recovery systemallowed use of an information system, but itwas limited by the number of people whocould access the system at one time as wellas many of its functions. This limited func-tionality was maintained for 17 days until theNBMS could be fully brought back into use.During this time, staff worked long hours andextra shifts during off-hours to maintainscheduling of blood drives, manually countinventory, and process & test collected units.The ARCBS performed a root cause analysis,which showed that failure of one componenttriggered failures of other devices in theirsystem. They did not have adequate supportor spare parts to fix the initial failure, whichled to cascading effects. In addition, esti-mates of how long it would take to repair thecomponent were overly optimistic, whichresulted in delays in activating the disasterrecovery plan. Lessons learned from thisevent included the need for redundancy inthe NBMS, more frequent tests of the systemand disaster recovery process, and the needfor more realistic appraisals of the workneeded to restore the system if it fails as wellas the need for improved communicationduring the event.
These two case studies provide examples ofhow two large blood providers responded toemergency situations while continuing tomeet their customers’ needs. They discusswhat went right and what improvementswere implemented as a result of theseevents. For those who are responsible formaintaining their organization’s disaster plan,these are worthwhile cases to study.
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By: Mary Berg, MD, Co-Chair, SCABB Education Committee
On January 29th, the Education Committee waspleased to present Geralyn Meny, MD and GloriaMathur, MT(ASCP)SBB discussing two interest-ing transfusion medicine cases. The first casewas an example of infection-associatedhemolytic-uremic syndrome and the secondcase was an example of an anti-Ata antibody.On March 12th, Joann Moulds will present a dis-cussion on the “Use and Abuse of Reagents.”
The final program for the live Mid-AtlanticSymposium to be held on Friday, April 10, 2015,
at the Anne Arundel Medical Center inAnnapolis, MD has been published. NanetteJohnson, MT(ASCP)SBB will present, “ProvidingBlood for Sickle Cell Patients: Strategies,Techniques, and Tools;” Sandra Nance, MS,MT(ASCP)SBB will present, “MonocyteMonolayer Assay: Application to ComplexAlloimmunization;” and Cynthia Flickinger,MT(ASCP)SBB will present, “InternationalCollaboration for Rare Blood Provision.” Inaddition, each speaker will present interestingcase studies and participate in an “Ask theExperts” session. If you will be in the area orknow of someone who lives in the area andmight be interested in attending, registration
information can be found at the SCABB web-site.
Throughout this issue of The Pulse, you will finddetails regarding the upcoming SCABB annualmeeting, which this year will be held in collabo-ration with the California Blood Bank Society(CBBS). The meeting will be held at the MirageConvention Center in Las Vegas, NV June 2-5,2015.
Remember that you can purchase a CD of pastwebinars or find recordings of them throughthe SOAR program at www.scabb.org/educa-tion. A complete list of educational activities isalways available through the SCABB website(www.scabb.org).
Education Committee Report
O Employment Opportunities
6 www.scabb.org
Donor Recruitment Mobile SupervisorBioBridge Global is seeking applicants for the Donor Recruitment Mobile Supervisor posi-
tion. The Supervisor is responsible for providing supervisory support for field donor recruit-
ment program reporting directly to the Director, Donor Recruitment & Client Services.
Under his/her supervision, will assist in planning, organizing and coordinating all field
recruitment activities for the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center (STBTC). Responsible for
achieving a minimum 100% of assigned goals.
For complete details on Responsibilities and Requirements and how to apply visit
www.scabb.org .> Employment Posted: 2.3.15
O JOINT MEETING SPONSORS
GOLD Level Sponsor• Bio-Rad Laboratories
• Grifols
• Haemonetics
• Immucor
SILVER Level Sponsor• Cerus Corporation
• MAK-SYSTEM Corp
• Roche Diagnostics
BRONZE Level Sponsor• Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc
• Antibody Check
• Applied Science, Inc
• Ashland Inc.
• BBCS, Inc.
• Best Theratronics
• Bloodbuy
• Creative Testing Solutions
• Digi-Trax Corporation
• Fenwal, A Fresenius Kabi Company
• Francis Communications Inc.
• Fresenius Medical Care NA
• GenesisBPS
• Healthcare-ID
• Helmer Scientific
• Homocue America
• Hussmann Services Corperation
• Label Arts LLC
• Mack Information Systems, Inc.
• Macopharma USA
• Mediware Information Systems
• NanoEnTek USA, Inc.
• National Bus Sales & Leasing
• QualTex Laboratories
• Quotient Biodiagnostics
• RC-Aid
• Rush University
• Rees Scientific
• Separation Technology, Inc.
• Sigma Blood Systems
• Temptime
• Terumo BCT
Interested in exhibiting at the
2015 SCABB/CBBS Joint Meeting?
Call 866-649-6550.
L L L
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Norman D. Kalmin, M.D., who joined the SouthTexas Regional Blood Bank (STRBB) in 1983 andshaped it into the community pillar called theSouth Texas Blood & Tissue Center (STBTC), isretiring in December after 31 years. UnderKalmin’s guidance, the organization changed itsname, moved to its current headquarters,expanded into tissue and biologic testing serv-ices, supported the efforts of the NationalMarrow Donor Program, added an umbilicalcord blood bank and initiated the nonprofitsubsidiary QualTex Laboratories.
“This has been the journey of a lifetime,” Kalminsaid. “I’m honored to have been part of growingthis company and harnessing its potential in thehealthcare industry. Together with a very sup-portive board and skilled management staff,
I was able steer it ina direction I hopedwould maximize itsimpact, and I could-n’t be more pleasedwith the result.”
Kalmin’s passionateadvocacy madeSTBTC a householdname and usheredthe organizationinto a new era.What began as theSouth TexasRegional BloodBank has evolvedinto BioBridgeGlobal (BBG), theumbrella nonprofitholding companyfor STBTC, QualTexLaboratories,GenCure and TheBlood & TissueCenter Foundation.
BBG’s focus stretches beyond blood and tissueto regenerative medicine and all its futurepotential.
Kalmin left his native South Africa in 1976 with amedical degree from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and completeda residency in clinical pathology at the StateUniversity of New York in Buffalo. Following afellowship in transfusion medicine with theAtlanta Red Cross, he joined STRBB in 1983 asits medical director. He became president andCEO a year later and served in that positionuntil 2010. In 2010, he was appointed to leadQualTex Laboratories, overseeing operations inSan Antonio and Atlanta until January 2012. Hethen relocated to Atlanta as CEO (emeritus)
and medical director of the Atlanta division of QualTex Laboratories.
Kalmin was elected in 2006 to the board of theInternational Society of Blood Transfusion(ISBT) and in 2008 to the vice presidency ofthat organization. He also is a member of theAmerican Association of Blood Banks (AABB),the American Association of Tissue Banks(AATB) and America’s Blood Centers. He’s pub-lished dozens of articles and abstracts in peer-reviewed journals and has made numerous pre-sentations at local, national and internationalmeetings.
“We’ll truly miss Dr. Kalmin and his great vision,and we wish him success and relaxation in thisnext phase,” said Linda Myers, CEO ofBioBridge Global. “BioBridge Global has beenbuilt on the foundation he was instrumental inlaying, and because of the infrastructure Dr.Kalmin implemented, our future is very bright.”
About BioBridge Global: BioBridge Global(BBG) is a San Antonio, Texas-based nonprofitorganization whose mission is to enhance andsave lives worldwide. BBG offers diverse servic-es in blood resource management; human celland tissue procurement and processing; andbiologic testing. Its subsidiaries – the SouthTexas Blood & Tissue Center, QualTexLaboratories and GenCure – provide productsand services that enable regenerative medicinetherapies and research for clients in the UnitedStates and around the world. BBG originatedfrom the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center,which has a proud history of serving the SouthTexas region for more than 40 years. BBG iscommitted to supporting groundbreakingresearch, addressing unmet clinical needs andenabling the development and commercializa-tion of novel biotechnology products. Visit us atbiobridgeglobal.org.
O Member News
BioBridge Global CEO Linda Myers, Dr. Norman D. Kalmin, BioBridgeGlobal Chairman of the Board Dennis Stahl
The DRC committee is Coming Together!! Wehave an exciting line up of speakers from topicsof “How to Navigate Through the Challenges ofSupply vs. Demand,” which we are all facing in
the everchanginglandscape ofblood bank-
ing to “Why Move Seats?”which is dealing with changemanagement. Sometimes it isa struggle to get employeeson board with change and forthem to see that change canactually be very good. Thissession will give you the toolsand the ideas to help youguide your team throughchange, whether it is big orsmall.
We are also excited to bring back ourRoundtable session which has always been pop-ular with the SCABB members. There will betopics covering 2RBC Conversions-Right Type
Mix, How to Increase Your Split Rates and StaffMotivation. Attendees will be able to spend 30minutes at each roundtable sharing ideas andbest practices. Let your creative juices flow byparticipating and sharing what has worked foryou and learning from others.
Then to help you put everything together, cometo our last session on Wednesday, June 4th, fora presentation on what makes a good leader.We all know sometimes you can have goodmanagement skills but don’t know how totranslate those into being a good leader. Thissession will help to identify leaders on yourteam, how to develop good leadership and thedifference between managing people and effec-tively leading people.
Just spend some time with us and we will helpeveryone Come Together to be the best theycan be.
O The DRC committee is Coming Together!
Fran Carson Gary Haman Michelle Johnson
8 www.scabb.org
O Member News
Accepting the Challenge of Donor RecruitingA universal topic that I hear when I visit with otherblood or marrow donor recruiters is the challenge ofdonor recruiting. I’m often asked questions abouthow I am able to get drives and referrals from theinternet, as I am quick to point out my positive expe-rience to others.
Social media and electronic communication haveoften been overlooked by donor recruiters who arestuck in the rut of doing the same things over andover again. Although I consider myself an earlyadopter of technology, I was guilty of being resistantto using Twitter as one of my means to recruitdonors, until I saw firsthand how volunteers at mydrive were attracting donors with tweets using spe-cific hashtags.
An example of how using social media has helpedraise donor awareness is from a recent Be The Matchdrive that LifeShare Blood Centers’ Marrow DonorProgram and Feist-Weiller Cancer Center held. Thejoint effort was formed because the two organiza-tions shared a patient; the patient is in need of amatching stem cell donor and Feist-Weiller is histreating facility.
As part of their routine event promotions, Feist-Weiller’s and LifeShare’s public relations departmentsused social media, mainly Facebook, as a source ofpromotion. Neither organization expected to garnerthe awareness their posts generated.
Within a couple of days, Feist-Weiller’s organic, non-paid Facebook post had been viewed by 6,984 peo-ple. “I was very surprised, \ut also very pleased withthe awareness that our drive raised,” says Feist-Weiller Public Relations Manager, Kelli Strong.“Normally, our patient stories received great atten-tion, but this story caught about four times theattention of our previous patients, including a younggirl with leukemia.”
Likewise, LifeShare’s post about the drive reached6,376 viewers.
Within a day of the postings, both organizationsbegan receiving telephone calls, emails and messages from the public wanting to donate or hosta drive and from the media.
The reach expanded well beyond the Shreveport, La.area where the drive was to be held. This led tothree other drives for the patient for a total of 99newly registered stem cell/marrow donors within aweek’s period. We have no idea why this patient’sstory motivated people over the many other patientstories, but what I can tell you is that without usingsocial media the results would not have been any-where near the same.
While I don’t profess to be a socialmedia expert, these are a few tipsthat I have found work for me:
• Utilize all social media tools thatare available, such as Facebook,Twitter and if you’re feeling ambi-tious, Instagram.
• For Facebook, decide if you wantto use your actual profile or create apage to share with your donors. I
prefer to use my profile, because it allows me tosend and receive friend requests as well as the abilityto tag donors in the pictures I post; something youcannot do when you use a page.
• If you decide to use a page, I do suggest using theFacebook application “Pages,” because it allows youto easily update without having to switch back andforth between posting as yourself and posting asyour page.
• Keep your Facebook friendly, not too “businesslike” with statistics, facts etc. The intention is torelate to you as a person, your company’s Facebookpage can handle the business side of things. Themore your donors relate to you as a person, the morethey are going to be willing to help you out to reachyour goals! I try to make sure to include posts aboutthings I do outside of work as well to keep peoplefrom losing interest.
• Remember, keep your posts neutral when it comesto personal opinion, religion, and politics; keep inmind your audience comes from all walks of life!
• Post pictures of from each of your drives. Welove seeing pictures ofourselves! Ask yourdonors if you can take apicture for Facebook, andtell them where they canfind those pictures. You’llbe surprised at how manynew “friends” you’ll makeas you post the pictures.And, I LOVE props, anddonors love my props fortheir pictures. You wantyour donors to have agood experience, take apicture they’ll rememberand want to come backand do again! Also, I havefound it helpful to goahead and take the timeto create albums for eachof your drives, so you andyour donors can easilycome back to their pic-tures.
• Ashley White, DonorRecruiter, LifeShare BloodCenters, Monroe, La.,shares a couple tips, “At adrive, I tag myself thereand ask my friends toshare; because my friendsmay have friends in thearea the drive is held. Ialso ask the donors tocheck-in on Facebook,
take pictures of themselves, post it on theirFacebook and let people know how many moredonors we need.”
• Karen Siefert, Donor Recruiter, LifeShare BloodCenters, Texarkana, Texas also uses social media suc-cessfully. “I like to take a LOT of pictures. I give myFacebook account name to anyone I take a picture ofso that they can find and tag themselves. You neverknow who is going to see their picture. If I’m at aschool or college, I will post on their page. (I alwayscall or message the organization before I post tomake sure it is approved.) I just share with as manypeople as I can,” explains Siefert.
• Make sure you “like” the businesses who do drivesand you want to hold drives. Pay attention to whatthey are posting; comment on and share some oftheir posts to show you have a vested interest inthem. Also, don’t be afraid to ask your Facebookfriends if they know any businesses or organizationsthat would be willing to host a drive. Many peopleare willing to help, but maybe they just haven’t everbeen asked! Many of my drives come from referralsfrom people who follow my Facebook profile; I haveeven been able to refer volunteers and drive oppor-tunities to my colleagues in other states.
Social media is another tool a recruiter has in theirkit. Used wisely, it can save you a lot of time andeffort and be very beneficial! I have found these tipsto be very helpful in my job, and I hope they willbenefit you and your efforts to recruit and engagedonors!
Brian Allison, Marrow Donor CoordinatorLifeShare Blood Centers
EXECUTIVECOMMITTEE
President Tom ChoiBlood Systems Inc.4920 South Wendler Dr., Suite 102Tempe, AZ 85282Office: [email protected]
President-ElectSarah Jones, MT(ASCP)SBBHouston Methodist Hospital9720 Broadway, Apt. 1028Pearland, Texas 77584Phone: [email protected]
Vice PresidentChristie Loe Malone, MT(ASCP)SBBCitra Labs, LLC.55 Messina DriveBraintree, MA 2184Office: [email protected]
Immediate Past PresidentJeannie Gardner, RNOklahoma Blood Institute1001 N. Lincoln Blvd. Oklahoma City, OK 73104 Office: [email protected]
SecretaryStephanie Babin Our Lady of the Lake RMC5000 Hennessy BoulevardBaton Rouge, LA 70808Office: [email protected]
TreasurerGarrick (Rick) Chatelain, BS,MT(ASCP)The Blood Center2609 Canal StreetNew Orleans, LA 70119Office: [email protected]
DISTRICT DIRECTORS
District I – (TX)Roberta Murfin, MBA, MT(AMT),BB(ASCP)Children's Medical Center1935 Medical District DriveDallas, TX 75235Office: [email protected]
Julie Ontiveros Coffee Memorial Blood Center7500 Wallace BoulevardAmarillo, TX 79124Office: [email protected]
District II (AZ, NM, CO, OK)Dustin Conover Oklahoma Blood Institute1001 N. Lincoln BoulevardOklahoma City, OK 73104Office: [email protected]
District III (AR, LA, MS)Katrina Billingsley, MT(ASCP)SBBLifeshare Blood Centers8910 Linwood AvenueShreveport, LA 71106Office: [email protected]
District-at-Large Director Barbara Bryant, MDBlood Center of Wisconsin638 North 18th StreetMilwaukee, WI 53233Office: [email protected]
SCABB Central Office 2901 Richmond Road, Suite 130-176Lexington, KY 40509PH: (866) 649-6550FX: (866) 649-6590
Karla D Stahlman, Executive [email protected]
Ashley Combs, Member [email protected]
Cindy Bleier, Education/[email protected]
Liz Pearce, [email protected]
O 2014-2015 Board of DirectorsO SCABB Sustaining Members
IndividualLorena Aranda, BB, MT, SBB (ASCP)cm
QualTex Laboratories
Stephanie BabinOur Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center
Mary Berg, MDUniversity of Colorado
Katrina Billingsley, MT SBBLifeshare Blood Centers
James Boone, CRT, RCPNational Bus Sales & Leasing, Inc.
Kelly Bowman, MT SBB(ASCP)Bonfils Blood Center
Rhonda BrestIntermountain Plasma, Inc.
Promise Bryant, CTBSQualTex Laboratories
Rebecca Bullock, MT(ASCP)SBBQuotient Biodiagnostics
Sally CagliotiCreative Testing Solutions
Elizabeth Callais, MT(ASCP)SBBSt. Tammany Parish Hospital
Christie Cardenas, LVNSouth Texas Bloo &Tissue Center
Garrick Chatelain, BS, MT(ASCP)The Blood Center
Ron ChavezSouth Texas Blood & Tissue Center
Alice Chen, MD, PhDBaylor St. Luke's Medical Center
Tom Choi, BSBMBlood Systems Inc.
Brian Clark, MBA, MLS(ASCP)South Texas Blood & Tissue Center
Dustin ConoverOklahoma Blood Institute
Mary Jo Drew, MD, MHSA
Jessica Drouillard, SBB(ASCP)CMLifeSouth Community Blood Centers, Inc.
Susan Epperson, BS, MT(ASCP)SBBPoudre Valley Hospital Blood Bank
Belinda FloresSouth Texas Blood & Tissue Center
Jennifer FordUnited Blood Services - Arizona
Jose GarciaQualTex Laboratories
Jeannie Gardner, RNOklahoma Blood Institute
David Gremillion, MT(ASCP)SBB, MHA, HPOur Lady of The Lake Regional Medical Center
Phyllis Haines BergeronThe Blood Center
Marilyn HallThe Blood Alliance
Gary HamanUnited Blood Services-NM
Dennis Harpool, SBB(ASCP)Blood Systems, Inc.
Nancy Haubert, MBA, MT(ASCP)SBBCreative Testing Solutions
Clint HuffCarter BloodCare
O'Dina HurlburtCreative Testing Solutions
Cheri Jennings, MT(ASCP)SBB, CQA(ASQ)Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center
Mario JimenezUnited Blood Services
Russell JohnsonBlood Systems, Inc.
Sarah Jones, MT(ASCP)SBBHouston Methodist Hospital
Heather JorissenChildren's Hospital Colorado
Rebecca KayserOklahoma Blood Institute
Paula Kelley, BS, MT(ASCP)SBBChildren's Medical Center Dallas
Yeon KimChristus Health Shreveport-Bossier
Kirk D. Kitchen, MT(ASCP)SBBAmerican Red Cross
Diana Lechuga, MT, BB(ASCP)Corpus Christi Medical Center
Christopher Leveque, MDThe Methodist Hospital
Christie Loe-Malone, MT(ASCP)SBBCitra Labs, LLC
Gloria Mathur, BSc.Chem, MT(ASCP)SBBCarter Bloodcare
Geralyn Meny, MDUT Health Science Center at San Antonio
Tracie MerrittOklahoma Blood Institute
Rendie Miller, RN, BSNTerumo BCT
Joann Moulds, PhD, MT(ASCP)SBBGrifols Immunohematology Center
Roberta Murfin, MBA, MT(AMT), BB(ASCP)Children's Medical Center
Anna MurphyOklahoma Blood Institute
Virginia Reyes, M.Ed MT(ASCP)SBBCarter BloodCare
Melonye RodgersCarter BloodCare
Francis Rodwig, MD, MPHOchsner Medical Center - New Orleans
Cynthia Steinmetz, MT(ASCP)SBBLifeshare Blood Center
James Teague, BS, SBB(ASCP)Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center
Lara Thedford, BS MT(ASCP)SBBSouth Texas Blood and Tissue Center
Mary Townsend, MDBlood Systems
Chris Turner, MT(ASCP)South Texas Blood & Tissue Center
Elizabeth Waltman, MBASouth Texas Blood & Tissue Center
Jo Youngblood, MT(ASCP)SBBFresenius Kabi
Institutional• Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center• Carter BloodCare• Our Lady of The Lake Reg Medical Center• Poudre Valley Hospital• United Blood Services - Albuquerque, NM
Associate Corporate• Creative Testing Solutions• Carter BloodCare