Category: Safety
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The Role of Histocompatibility Laboratory Services at the American Red Cross in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
Clara Barton established the American Red Cross in 1881 with the primary objective of providing emergency assistance and disaster relief to people in the United States. The organization later grew into one of the largest charitable and nonprofit organizations, expanding its reach into blood product supply, cellular therapies, and tissue services. Leaders had the foresight…
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Motivating Donors: Lessons from Collecting COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma
Early in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, many blood centers began collecting and distributing COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP). Researchers from the American Red Cross conducted a survey of CCP donors during the first five months of the CCP collection period (April 27-September 15, 2020) to gather information about their donation experience and motivations. Read about their findings…
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The Home Fire Campaign: Prevention is the Best Medicine
October 14, 2022. North Las Vegas, Nevada. Cherise Coleman and her family escaped a fire unharmed at their North Las Vegas home in September 2022, thanks to free smoke alarms installed a few years earlier by American Red Cross volunteers, including Eva Stowers (left). Few disasters cause as much harm to people and their homes…
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SPOTLIGHT On LAB WEEK: Red Cross labs advance patient care
Although far from the spotlight, medical laboratory scientists and other laboratory professionals play a vital role in health care and patient outcome. The work of testing, diagnosing, and treatment is crucial in saving lives—but the Red Cross takes laboratory services a step further. Improving patient care through innovation and decades of research lies at the…
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Making Blood Donation More Inclusive: The ADVANCE Study
In December 2020, the American Red Cross, OneBlood and Vitalant, together representing over 50% of the blood supply in the United States, initiated the ADVANCE (Assessing Donor Variability And New Concepts in Eligibility) Study. ADVANCE was a pilot study funded by a contract from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that could potentially lead…
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Unraveling the mystery: Anti-Jk3 and its peculiarities
The Kidd (Jk) blood group system was named in 1951 for the infant (John Kidd) who was born with hemolytic disease of the newborn. The Kidd system consists of two antithetical antigens with varying expression (Jka and Jkb), and the high-incidence antigen (Jk3) that is found on all individuals’ red cells except for those with…
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Don’t ‘Tick Me Off: Babesia blood donation screening
Babesia is a red blood cell parasite and the agent of babesiosis. Ticks naturally transmit it to humans; however, the parasite can also be transmitted through blood transfusion. Healthy individuals can be infected without knowing it or may experience mild, flu-like symptoms; however, the disease can be severe and cause death in 5% of infected individuals…
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CHECK IT OUT!!!
The visual inspection of blood products is not just good practice, but a requirement according to regulatory agencies and accrediting organizations. Inspecting blood products is critical to ensure that the safest ones are used and is the blood bank’s first step in assessing the suitability of a product for transfusion. There are many conditions that…
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REDy, Set, Go – the REDS-IV-P Program
In the United States, and globally, the “REDS” moniker is well-known and widely regarded in the transfusion medicine community. Funded by the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of NIH, the original REDS program (initiated in 1989 and renewed through 2001) stood for Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study and was introduced to address concerns for HIV and…