Even when you’ve done everything right, there is still the chance of adverse transfusion reaction, whether as minor as allergies or as major as death. Preparing your facility to manage adverse events may seem easy enough by the standards, but are you really ready to interact with the FDA if the occasion arises? This presentation aims to share one facility’s experience with a detrimental transfusion outcome, focusing on preparing for the worst-case-scenario, steeling oneself for interacting with the ultimate authority, and finally, techniques to support one another through the emotional impact of such an event.

Andrea Pointer is a graduate of Missouri State University and the North Kansas City Hospital School of Medical Laboratory Science. She has a passion for immunology and molecular sciences, and has worked in specialty laboratories in transplant medicine, oncology genomics, and general laboratory management. She joined the Transfusion Medicine specialty at University Health Truman and Lakewood Medical Centers in 2022, where she currently serves our community’s most vulnerable populations.

In her personal time, she enjoys motherhood, cats, heavy metal, and IPAs.

11 month old male transferred to University Hospital. Unable to get the reverse ABO type to show up. Basic review of ABO genetics and testing. Brief follow-up on the clinical results.

WIll Karstens is a former Army Medical Lab Specialist (68K), Undergrad in Biochemisty at Merrimack College, North Andover, MA. From Vermont – enjoys snowboarding, maple syrup.

The risks of iron deficiency and anemia during pregnancy have varied and lifelong implications for both mother and infant.  This presentation will share the development, optimization, financial benefit, and patient outcomes of a laboratory-based anemia management program.

Carrie has been at Stormont Vail Health since 2009 and is currently the Laboratory Manager of Quality and Transfusion Safety.  She received her MLS from the University of Kansas Medical Center in 1998 and passed the SBB exam by the experience route in 2022.  Carrie received her Master of Science in Transfusion Medicine from the University of Texas Medical Branch this past December.  Carrie enjoys working with professionals from across medical disciplines to optimize care of hemorrhaging and critically ill patients while also encouraging responsible stewardship of blood components.  Carrie has been married to her husband, Matt, for over 30 years, has 5 adult children, and an amazing granddaughter.

• Two ways to remotely store blood and components safely will be presented.
• Mary will discuss the pitfalls and benefits of remote storage and inventory management.
• Definition and working principles of the radio frequency identification (RFID) system.
• Rationale for implementing the RFID system in the Blood Bank.
• Description of the study Children's Mercy performed to evaluate the effect of the RFID system on the RBC inventory management.

Mary is the Blood Bank Clinical Lab Educator for The School of Medical Laboratory Science at Mercy Hospital St. Louis.  Her primary role as CLE is to teach college students or graduates with a degree in science the clinical requirement for obtaining their MLS certification.  Mary is also responsible for document control of all procedures, facilitates training and competencies for blood bank and blood donor services.  Mary was born and raised in St Louis and went to college in Kansas City at Avila University. She then lived in K.C., Dallas and Austin, Texas before returning to her hometown. Flexibility is one of the benefits of the MLS profession.  She has worked at Mercy for 20 years and plans to retire as soon as her son graduates from Missouri S&T in 1 year (fingers crossed).

Dr. Music completed her pathology training at Berkshire Medical Center, Pittsfield, MA, and Transfusion Medicine fellowship at New York Blood Center. After completing her fellowship, she worked as an Associate Medical Director of the Blood Bank at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. Since 2011 to present she is a Medical Director of the Transfusion Laboratory and Therapeutic Apheresis Service at Children’s Mercy.

• Overview of Barnes-Jewish Hospital located in St. Louis MO
• Overview of the Blood Bank services, size and workload
• Why Implement IFC?
• Challenges for the implementation of IFC
• Solutions to implementation of IFC
• Current state of IFC at BJH
• Future potential for IFC at BJH

Cindy Ingold has over 35 years of experience in the blood industry. She began as a generalist working in several hospitals before discovering her passion for the Blood Bank. The American Red Cross offered her the ability to gain experience via the Missouri/Illinois Region Reference Laboratory located in St. Louis, MO. It was there she earned her Specialist in Blood Bank certification and continued in her drive to learn Blood Center operations. Cindy advanced to management roles, serving as Quality Assurance Director at ARC’s National Testing Laboratory and later overseeing the Missouri/Illinois and Greater Ozark Arkansas Regions. She also served as Director of Collections across a five state area. In 2020, Cindy returned to her hospital roots as the Laboratory Manager of Transfusion Services at Barnes Jewish Hospital in which she serves today.

The Blood Bank at the University of Kansas Health System dealt with an interesting case of potential botulism. Due to an over abundance of caution, Blood Bank teamed up with our Microbiology department to procure a working space inside their BSL 4 fume hood. Blood Bank also created a quick guide for staff members on how to handle especially potential infectious material, including testing parameters.

Objectives:

1. Define race and ethnicity and give guidance for reporting.
2. Describe the use of race and ethnicity in transfusion medicine with focus on blood group differences.
3. Discuss how expansion of cost effective and comprehensive genotyping methods can reduce reliance on race and ethnicity.

Sunitha Vege is the Senior Technical Director of the Genomics Laboratory at the New York Blood Center.  She received her Master’s in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and later, in Bioinformatics. She has been working in the blood group genotyping field for over 15 years with particular interest and passion in the RH and MNS systems and their genetic diversity.  With the goal to further expand her knowledge, she is currently enrolled in SBB program at Versiti. She has presented at state and national conferences and as co-authored numerous publications in the area.

This presentation will give an overview of the pathogen reduction (PR) technologies used in treating platelets for transfusion. The impact of PR on platelet physiology and biochemistry will be discussed. Finally, the available data on the clinical impact of PR treatment on platelet transfusions will be highlighted. Potential impacts of PR treatment of platelets will be modeled.

• Describe the primary benefits of pathogen-reduced platelets in preventing transfusion-transmitted disease
• Compare the risks of pathogen-reduced platelets with conventional platelets
• Assess the impact of pathogen-reduction platelets on hospital transfusion services.

Dr. Koepsell is the Vice Chair of Clinical Operations and a Professor in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He was the primary investigator on the multicenter randomized controlled trial evaluating the clinical effectiveness of the pathogen reduction technology used in platelets (Mirasol) – the MiPlate trial.

What do you do when you discover an unexpected antigen typing? Do you investigate history, rule out sample switch, opt for a different serologic technique, or refer for DNA testing? What about when serologic findings leave you with more questions than answers? Which test do you perform next, and once the antibody is identified, how is clinical relevance determined? When the safety and well-being of the patient are at stake, possibilities can be overwhelming, test results difficult to interpret, and answers elusive.

In this interactive session, participants will act as blood bankers and make critical decisions to shape the outcome of complex and uncommon serology and molecular case studies. Key decision paths will be discussed to illustrate the value and limitations of specific serology and molecular methods and to arrive at an accurate interpretation of test results and appropriate transfusion considerations.

After working for several years in the Immunohematology Reference Laboratory at Community Blood Center in Kansas City, Lynsi now works as the Manager of Education and Training for IRL/Genomics for New York Blood Center Enterprises (NYBCe). In this role, she supports training of laboratory staff and coordinates educational programs and content offered by NYBCe for the greater transfusion medicine community. She has a Master’s Degree in Health Professions Education and is certified as a Specialist in Blood Banking. Lynsi is passionate about educating and training the next generation of leaders in immunohematology and genomics.

Sunitha Vege is the Senior Technical Director of the Genomics Laboratory at the New York Blood Center.  She received her Master’s in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and later, in Bioinformatics. She has been working in the blood group genotyping field for over 15 years with particular interest and passion in the RH and MNS systems and their genetic diversity.  With the goal to further expand her knowledge, she is currently enrolled in SBB program at Versiti. She has presented at state and national conferences and as co-authored numerous publications in the area.