August, September, October 2012 - SCABB · Bill Withers – Lovely Day The Strokes – Last Night April 20-21, 2013 Baton Rouge, LA “You . ..). ...

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August, September, October 2012

President's Message . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Protégé Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Call for SCABB Award Nominations . . 3

The Future of Frozen Blood . . . . . . 4

Welcome New Members . . . . . . . . 5

2012 Sol Haberman Award . . . . . . 6

Journal Club Review . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Board of Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

IN THIS ISSUE

Tell us a littlebit about

your facility andcurrent position.

GG: I work forAmerican RedCross BloodServices,SouthernCalifornia Region.I came to the U.S.in 1968 to carryout research withDr. Larry Petz inSan Francisco.After 10 years of100% grant-dependentresearch in San

Francisco, I was offered a job as scientific directorto start a research program at the ARC BloodCenter in Los Angeles. After a few years, I “inher-ited” two other departments: Reference Services(red cell and HLA/platelet immunology) andCommunity Education. Our blood center was builtabout 7 years ago; it is on the campus ofCalifornia State University in Pomona. We are oneof the largest Red Cross centers, serving about150 hospitals in Southern California.

What are some projects you are working on(or have worked on) that you are most

passionate about?

GG: Projects that I have worked on that I am mostpassionate about include developing laboratoryapproaches to help physicians arrive at the correctdiagnosis and select the best blood for patientswho are suspected of having immune hemolytic

anemia; developing a test to predict clinical signifi-cance of alloantibodies (monocyte monolayerassay); applying flow cytometry to study bloodgroup antigen/antibodies; and 8 years of researchon production of “stealth RBCs” [using polyethyl-ene glycol (PEG) to block all RBC antigens on RBCmembranes]. We were successful in doing this,but in the end, stopped the research as we foundantibodies to PEG were quite common, and theantibodies could destroy PEG-RBCs in vivo.Although I have worked on drug-induced immunehemolytic anemia (DIIHA) for more than 40 years,recently, we have become excited about severalaspects that contribute directly to patient care.For instance, some surprising results associatedwith piperacillin therapy, [either alone or togetherwith a beta-lactamase inhibitor (e.g., Zosyn,Wyeth, Philadelphia, PA)]. Piperacillin is now themost common drug that we find associated withDIIHA. The latter can mimic autoimmune hemolyt-ic anemia (AIHA) and delayed hemolytic transfu-sion reactions. Patient’s plasma can react withRBCs in vitro, with no added piperacillin and theserology will look like an autoantibody (even hav-ing anti-e specificity). Unfortunately, the hematol-ogists will also suspect AIHA and start unneces-sary treatment with steroids. If piperacillin is notsuspected, the drug therapy will be continued andthere will be enough drug in the patient’s plasmato allow the piperacillin antibody to react withRBCs without adding drug in vitro. There is a sim-ple solution: 1) stop the drug, and 2) test forpiperacillin antibodies. After 24 hours, usually,there will be no circulating drug and the “autoanti-body” reactions will no longer be detected. Thepatient’s “AIHA” will resolve without any furthertreatment. It is very satisfying for us to directlyhelp the patient and receive praises from thehematologists.

What’s an accomplishment that you areproudest of?

GG: I am most proud of the results I have achievedin educating people (of all levels) who haveattended my lectures, and read my scientific publi-cations and textbooks. A good example of thisoccurred at the recent ISBT meeting in Mexico.On the first day, a hematologist came up to intro-duce himself. He said “Dr. Garratty, I have wantedto thank you for many years. About 20 years ago,you gave some lectures in Venezuela. I had juststarted my career and your lectures and textbooksinspired me to pursue hematology as a career.”These types of interactions have occurred manytimes, especially at international meetings. Theyare a great source of satisfaction to me.

What do you see as the most importantchange to the industry in the next 5 years?

GG: Five years is a short time for changes tooccur, but I will mention a few that hopefully willbe accelerated. There is no doubt that DNA-basedapproaches will get more and more efficient andcost-effective, leading to more applications inimmunohematology (RBC, WBC, and plateletimmunology). Such changes are slower thanmight be expected in the U.S. because FDA andsome patents are involved. The history of DNAand blood groups go back to the early 1990s, so20 years has passed and there are only three com-panies producing platforms/kits, and only one ofthese has submitted data to the FDA. I would liketo see pathogen inactivation of platelets and RBCsapproved in the U.S., but whether it will be in thenext 5 years is doubtful. Methods for cultivatingstem cells into mature RBCs (“blood pharming”)suitable for transfusion is proceeding at an inter-esting rate, but usable products will not be within5 years (nor will any other form of “artificialblood”).

….Read More.

O Trending Today: George Garratty

O SCABB’s Enhanced ‘Member’s Only’ Section – Check it Out!

South Central Association of Blood Banks isalways thinking of new ways to improve yourmembership experience. We are proud to intro-duce a new and improved ‘Member’s Only’ sectionwith countless opportunities for you to stay con-nected to SCABB! Now, customized specificallyfor each member, YOU have total control of yourmembership profile. Simply go to the ‘Member’sOnly’ section of www.scabb.org and enter theuser name and password supplied to you byCentral Office.

Look at some of the ways the new ‘Member’sOnly’ section will benefit you.

• Change your profile information ANYTIME and the online membership directory will update INSTANTLY

• Choose which contact information you want other members to see in the directory

• Network with fellow SCABB members

• Track continuing education credits and have access to that information anytime you need it

These are just some of the awesome benefits youwill experience with the new and improved sec-tion exclusively for SCABB members! You will con-tinue to see enhancements to your profile asCentral Office enters updates. If you see specificinformation that you are unable to change andneed to update, simply send us an e-mail and wewill take care of it!

O What’s On……..Jose’s iPod

O Protégé Profiles

Kirk D. Kitchen,MT(ASCP)SBBSenior Associate,American Red Cross

“For anything tochange, someone hasto start acting different-ly.” This is one of my

favorite quotes from Switch, How to ChangeThings When Change is Hard, by Chip and DanHeath (Heath brothers).

I started thinking of this book for two reasons:the organization that I work for is embarkingon change that is monumental in scope; andSouth Central Association of Blood Banks ismaking their annual appeal for award andscholarship nominations. Now, my first reasonsounds about right since we have all experi-enced change within the organizations wherewe work. How does change make me think ofaward and scholarship nominations?

Once, again, the Heath brothers state that tomotivate people (for change) you need to“grow your people.” An important part of“growing” people is to cultivate their identity.Here, I’m referring to a person’s professionalidentity. A person’s identity becomes centralto the way they make decisions that cangreatly impact their participation in change.

Each year, the South Central Association ofBlood Banks is proud to present five awards atthe Annual Meeting. Over the years, these cov-eted awards are presented to amazing con-tributors to our industry. These time-honoredawards are cherished by the recipients as anacknowledgement by industry leaders of theirsignificant endeavors. Through this programSouth Central is honored to be able to fosterexcellence in blood banking; to supportstrong, robust relationships within institutions;and to provide an avenue for institutions toshowcase their affiliations with outstandingemployees, volunteers, and donors. Likewise,South Central awards scholarships to individu-als nominated by their employer or education-al institution for their contributions duringearly career development.

These are experiences that “grow” people andcultivate their professional identity. This is oneway to ensure that people are being preparedto become agents of change.

“The only thing constant in life is change”—François de la Rochefoucauld, 17th centuryFrench author.

O 55th President’s Message

Ryan Nobles, MT(ASCP)CMSBB, CLS(NCA)

I grew up in Houston, Texas and attended Texas A&M University andThe University of Texas. After graduating in 2007 with a BS degree inClinical Laboratory Science from MD Anderson, I began my journey inblood banking at Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center in Houston. I laterachieved my SBB certification in 2011, after successful completion ofGulf Coast Regional Blood Center's Specialist in Blood BankTechnology Program. Currently, I am the Lead ConsultationSpecialist and Training Coordinator in the Reference Laboratory at GulfCoast Regional Blood Center and a member of the SCABB Technicaland Scientific Committee.

My most recent projects include presentations and awards for my work involving warm autoanti-bodies and their removal from patient serum. I presented my research "Warm Autoadsorption:Are We Wasting Our Time?" at the annual meeting in Austin and as a SCABBinar in June. I amon a team to integrate parts of rare donor testing at Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center. Thisteam is aimed to improve patient care by creating a larger inventory of available antigen-nega-tive blood.

I was very happy to be selected to join the 2012 Protégé Program and even more enthusiasticonce I learned Joann Moulds would be my mentor. Having the vast knowledge base available inmy fellow SCABB members will prove to be very beneficial to help me learn even more andgrow in my career.

Sandy Wortman, MT (ASCP) SBB

I am pleased to be selected as a protégé in the 2012 SCABBmentor/protégé program. My mentor is Cheri Jennings from GulfCoast Regional Blood Center. I am currently the Reference &Transfusion (R&T) Manager at Carter BloodCare (CBC) in Bedford,Texas. I came to CBC in 2002 after receiving my BS degree in MedicalTechnology from West Texas A & M University. I worked in the refer-ence laboratory at CBC for a year and then transferred to a CBC satel-lite transfusion service at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas for 4years, where I was promoted to supervisor. In 2007, I was promotedto R&T Compliance Manager at the main Bedford campus and workedin that role until August 2011, when it was decided that my compliance

manager role would be merged with the R&T general manager role. I have had many challengesthrown my way throughout my blood banking career and I have loved every day of it.

I feel blessed to have the work opportunities and look forward to growth, development, and net-working in my chosen field. I am serving on the AIMs committee this year and I am excited tobe able to contribute to this wonderful program. I am looking forward to meeting other SCABBmembers and learning more about their labs and processes to help improve my skills and knowl-edge. I hope to help others develop while gaining from my involvement with SCABB.

Call for Protégés and Mentors

Do you want to develop your leadership skills? Do you want to help others develop their leader-ship skills? If you answer “Yes” to either of these questions, then the Protégé/MentorshipProgram is looking for you. http://www.scabb.org/protege-mentor-prog.html.

Menu

Audioslave – Like a StoneRonnie Milsap – Smokey

Mountain RainJason Aldean – Dirt Road

AnthemBill Withers – Lovely DayThe Strokes – Last Night April 20-21, 2013

Baton Rouge, LA

“You Gotta

Geaux!”

2 www.scabb.org

O Call for South Central Association of Blood Banks Award Nominations

3

Each year, the South Central Association of BloodBanks is very proud to present five awards at theAnnual Meeting. Over the years, these covetedawards are presented to amazing contributors to our industry. These time-honored awards arecherished by the recipients as an acknowledge-ment by industry leaders of their significantendeavors.

South Central is honored to be able to fosterexcellence in blood banking, support strong,robust relationships within institutions, and provide an avenue for institutions to showcasetheir affiliations with outstanding employees, volunteers, and donors. Please carefully review theaward criteria and nominate individuals andgroups who should be recognized for their outstanding achievements or contributions.Nominations are due December 19, 2012.Applications and detailed criteria and submissioninstructions can be found on the South Centralwebsite, www.scabb.org. Questions? ContactSarah Jones, Awards Committee Co-Chair [email protected].

1. President’s Award of Merit – OutstandingIndividual: This award is presented to anindividual who has made a significant contributionto the blood resources of a blood collectionfacility, either by coordinating blood drives, donat-ing large quantities of blood, or recruiting largenumbers of blood donors over a long period of time. Nominees may also include volunteers who have shown spectacular short-term results (e.g. response to a disaster) andDonor Recruiters within blood centers or hospitals.

2. President’s Award of Merit - OutstandingContributions: This award is presented to avolunteer, corporate, or media group or a financialcontributor to the blood banking profession, whichhas shown spectacular long-or short-term resultsin the promotion of blood banking, the promotionof public understanding of blood banking, ordemonstrated strong commitment to blood bank-ing in a significant and unique manner.

3. Larry Trow Memorial Educational Award:This award is presented to any individual, who has significantly contributed to the promotion of immunohematology education within the

Association’s region by 1) promoting a betterunderstanding of immunohematology onlocal,state and regional levels, 2) presenting educational programs on local, state and regionallevels, 3) providing educational coordination/instruction of schools of blood bank technology,or 4) being instrumental in providing scientific,technical, and administrative education at variouslevels of expertise and interest.

4. Dr. Matthew Gottlieb Rising Star Award – Thisaward is presented to an individual who has beenan Association member from one to five years andhas contributed to South Central by serving on acommittee, writing articles for PULSE, presentingan abstract at the annual meeting , etc.

5. The Cornerstone Award: This award is present-ed to an individual or institutional member of the association who has contributed in anextraordinary way to the success of the SouthCentral Association of Blood Banks. Recipients of this award are recognized for a contribution,landmark event, or new endeavor that helps sustain the association or promotes its growth and prosperity.

O Firefighters Meet the Challenge

2012 marks the 10thyear for the CoastalBend Blood Center’sannual Guns N’ HosesBlood Drive Challenge, acompetition betweenvarious law enforcementand fire fighting entitiesto see whether “guns” or“hoses” can bring in themost blood donationsduring the month ofJuly.

Coastal Bend fire, police,sheriff, public safety,border patrol and crimi-nal justice offices hostedblood drives throughoutthe month and invitedtheir employees, as wellas family and friends, tocome out and show theirsupport by giving blood.All blood donors duringthe month of July hadthe option of creditingtheir donation towardeither “guns” or “hoses.”

Showing support from the top, Corpus ChristiPolice Chief Floyd Simpson and Corpus Christi FireChief Robert Rocha officially kicked off the chal-lenge by donating blood at the Nueces CountyCourthouse on Monday, July 9. Kingsville PoliceChief Ricardo Torres donated blood that day andissued a challenge for all Coastal Bend communitylaw enforcement and fire fighting leadership to dothe same.

At the end of the challenge, “Hoses” came out ontop, partnering with the Blood Center to collect283 units of lifesaving blood. Battling until thevery end, “Guns” finished with an impressive 216donations. These two groups joined together tocontribute an amazing 499 units of blood forCoastal Bend hospitals and patients. The “win-ning” agencies will receive a certificate to display,along with bragging rights for the coming year.

Every donation counts. A heartfelt thank you goesto each of the fire fighting and law enforcementagencies that hosted blood drives during thiscompetition. Special congratulations to City ofKingsville Fire Department, Corpus Christi FireDepartment, NAS Corpus Christi Fire & EmergencyServices, Refinery Terminal Fire Company, andRobstown Fire Department.

CBB guns and hoses

Submitted by David Gremillion

The Summer Board Meeting was held in BatonRouge on July 20 and 21. Many board membersand committee chairs who flew in from drought-stricken areas of the United States were in awe atthe emerald green flora that Baton Rouge wasnestled in. While the Mississippi River is at recordlow levels, South Louisiana has been blessed withfrequent afternoon showers. I wish I could divert

some of these life-giving rains to stressed cornand soybean fields in the rest of the nation.

Summer Board Meeting attendees met at the Belleof Baton Rouge Hotel and Casino on Friday after-noon. Kirk Kitchen, SCABB president, KarlaDarnall from the Central Office and I visited somenearby venues for the Awards Banquet. The OldLouisiana State Capitol is beautiful and would be agreat place to host the banquet. In a well-appointed meeting room on the top floor, programchairs outlined their plans for the three learningtracks – Administrative, Technical/Scientific andDonor Recruitment and Collections. We thentoured the facility to get a feel for the meeting

rooms and exhibit hall. The exhibit hall will beunique, in that, it is a very spacious glass-coveredatrium that allows plenty of natural sunlight. Andyes, we had another heavy afternoon thunderstorm that very day. After dinner, some attendeestried their luck in the adjoining casino.

On Saturday, the team met at Our Lady of theLake Regional Medical Center to hash out otherdetails for the 2013 Annual Meeting. We discussedpossible themes for the meeting such as – Rollingon the River – Learning on the River. Sang Rouge(Blood Red) in Baton Rouge. Finally, it was decid-ed the theme is “Your Gotta Geaux”.

O District III News

4

Submitted by Ryan Nobles, Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center

For many years, freezing and deg-lycerolizing Red Blood Cells (RBCs)have been a routine practice forblood centers and transfusion serv-ices nationwide. We have all cometo rely on frozen RBCs to helpmaintain a healthy stock of rareRBCs for the hospitals we serve, aswell as for supplying units to othermembers of the American RareDonor Program. Unfortunately, onemajor drawback of deglycerolizedRBCs is the short 24-hour expirationtime, which often becomes a majorproblem when complications arisewith patients and starting transfu-sions are delayed or canceled. Thedeglycerolyzed RBCs can expire,resulting in loss of valuableresources and revenue.

Since 2010, Gulf Coast RegionalBlood Center has been freezing andthawing rare RBCs using the FDA-licensed Haemonetics AutomatedCell Processor (ACP), which hasbeen used by the military for manyyears to manage the logistics ofmoving thousands of RBCs globally.The major advantage to using thisnew technology to freeze and thawRBCs is the extended 14-day expira-tion date. The freezing and thaw-ing process using the ACP is almostidentical to the traditional process,but takes place in a closed environ-ment, which allows for the longerexpiration. We, as well as our hos-

pital partners, no longer have thestress that comes with a unit thatexpires in less than 24 hours.Despite the advantages, this newtechnology comes with a coupledrawbacks. RBCs must be derivedfrom whole blood donations andfrozen within 6 days of collection.These two criteria have forced us to reevaluate our rare RBC freezingprogram from ‘donor draw’ to ‘prioritizing testing, once the unitsare in hand.’ Another hurdle wehave encountered is clients notbeing aware of this new technologyand their slow transition in adaptingto a different way of managing theblood supply.

We are almost through the growingpains associated with making such a big transition, but the results havebeen worthwhile. We now havethawed RBCs that look identical toun-manipulated RBCs and we nolonger have nurses questioning theRBC unit distributed in a different“donut” shaped bag. We are alsoparticipating in a multi-center studywith Hermann Hospital in Houstonto discover the quantitative andqualitative advantages and disad-vantages of blood frozen and deg-lycerolyzed using the ACP versusliquid units that are either zero to 14 days old or 15 to 42 days old. TheHaemonetics ACP has the potentialto radically change how we all viewfrozen RBCs and hopefully make apositive impact on how we manageour rare inventories.

www.scabb.org

O Hot Topic: The Future of Frozen Blood

Baton Rouge here we come! The Donor Recruitment/Collections committee is planning an exciting line up of speakers that will surely interest you whether you are in donor recruitment or collections. Our goal is to provide topics that are informative, interesting and fun.

To give you a sneak peek of what to expect, here is a line-up of speakersand topics.

The first topic is on how to manage Generation Y. Human Dynamics, alocal company in Baton Rouge, has generously agreed to provide an HRdepartment expert to give us insight on how to best manage the newgeneration coming into the workforce.

Next, Brandi Wright will be presenting a QA boot camp on a newapproach to identify errors that are trending the highest. She will showhow the boot camp works, how to develop training plans to preventerrors, and how to continually assess errors.

Todd Abner, vice president of recruitment at Oklahoma Blood Institute,will follow with “Donor Motivation.” This lecture will present the researchon what motivates a first time donor and on what then motivates firsttime donors to become long-term donors.

Back by popular demand is the Donor Recruitment Roundtable.Networking is always a great way to learn new ideas and share best prac-tices. We are currently searching for topics that will keep the conversationmoving in the roundtable session. If you would like to submit ideas, pleasesend them to Fran Carson ([email protected]) or SusanCrews ([email protected]).

The entire DRC Committee is looking forward to seeing everyone next spring in Baton Rouge. Please feel free to contact us anytime withquestions.

O DRC Committee Preview for April 2013

O Employment Opportunities

Phlebotomist 1 (Allen TX and Plano TX)

Responsible for performing all job duties related to collections,including donor registration, screening and possibly the collectionsof special donations. Position is required to maintain regular atten-dance and may be required to assume overtime, and/or float toother areas. To apply go online to www.carterbloodcare.org andclick jobs and apply online.

Posted 8/21/12

Phlebotomist II (various TX locations)

Responsible for performing all aspects of collections, ability tooperate a minimum of one apheresis technology, and possibly spe-cial donations. The Phlebotomist II will versee and assign responsi-bilities to collections staff. This includes effectively and discreetlysolving personnel and donor problems, addressing procedural orbehavioral problems, and making verbal or written reports to man-agement. This position is required to maintain regular attendanceand may be required to assume overtime, and/or float to otherareasTo apply go online to www.carterbloodcare.org and click jobsand apply online.

Posted 8/21/12

Donor Center/Mobile Supervisors (Bedford, Denton, Mesquite and Plano TX)

Responsible for performing all job duties related to whole bloodcollection, special donations and ability to operate a minimum oftwo apheresis technologies with the exception of those locationswith only one apheresis technology. Will oversee and assign respon-sibilities to donor center staff. This includes effectively and discreet-ly solving personnel and donor problems, addressing procedural orbehavioral problems, and making verbal or written reports to man-agement. Minimum of 1 year apheresis/dialysis or blood bankingexperience. Previous management or supervisory experience. Toapply go online to www.carterbloodcare.org and click jobs andapply online.

Posted 8/21/12

….Read More

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O Welcome New Members - Since Last Pulse

Elizabeth CallaisSt. Tammany ParishHospital1202 South TylerCovington, LA 70433Office: [email protected] Type: Individual

Darren ChessMethodist Health System2700 E. Braod StreetP.O. Box 1Mansfield, TX 76063Office: [email protected] Type: Individual

Suzanne DavissonIndiana Blood Center3450 North Meridian StreetIndianapolis, IN 46208Office: [email protected] Type: Individual

Dennis FallenSouth Texas Blood & TissueCenter / Qualtex6211 IH 10 WSan Antonio, TX 78201Office: 210-731-5512 [email protected] Type: Individual

Vonda JacobsCarter BloodCare2205 Highway 121Bedford, TX 76021Office: [email protected] Type: Individual

Bryan LovasUnited Blood Services1503 Bertrand DriveLafayette, LA 70506Office: [email protected] Type: Individual

Michael PasswaterVidant Medical Center2100 Stantonsburg RoadGreenville, NC 27834Office: [email protected] Type: Individual

Leslie VinsonUniversity of CO Hospital12605 E. 16th AvenueRoom3000Aurora, CO 80045Office: [email protected] Type: Student

Emily VolkBaptist Health System3445 Executive CenterDrive, Suite 250Austin, TX 78731Office: [email protected] Type: IndividualPhysician

Bettina WestonCarter BloodCare6850 N. Shiloh RoadSuite VGarland, TX 75044Office: [email protected] Type: Individual

Jessica YoungUniversity of Arkansas forMedical Science4301 W. MarkhamStreetSlot #M1/077Little Rock, AK 72205Office: [email protected] Type: Student

Jose Garcia, Co-Chair Membership Committee

On behalf of the South Central Association of Blood Banks and the SCABB Membershipcommittee, we would like to extend a warm welcome to our new members:

SCABB offers many educational and networking opportunities year round and connecting withfellow members is now easier than ever with our newly launched Members Only area onwww.scabb.org. We encourage you to log in today and take full advantage of your membership.Thank you for your commitment to Connect, Learn and Grow!

WarmAutoadsorption:Are We WastingOur Time?

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Ourcurrent adsorption pro-cedure follows theaccepted practice ofadsorbing autoantibod-ies from patient’s serum

up to three times with either ZZAP-pretreatedpatient red blood cells (RBCs) and/or ficin-pre-treated allogeneic RBCs. This time-consumingprocess can require up to six hours, which maycreate significant delays that can impact patientcare. The aim of this study was to modify the cur-rent adsorption method to reduce the totaladsorption time to one hour.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A ratio ofone part patient serum to three parts RBCs(1:3 Method) was maintained for all samples.The one part of patient serum was first splitinto three separate tubes. Each aliquot ofpatient serum was mixed with one full part officin-pretreated allogeneic RBCs, creatingthree separate adsorbing tubes each contain-ing 1 part patient serum and three partsRBCs. All tubes were incubated for one hourat 37°C with periodic mixing. The adsorbedserum from each tube was harvested andcombined into one tube and tested with theoriginally tested selected panel cells, if avail-able, in the same phases that showed reactiv-ity. If the originally adsorbed serum did notexhibit underlying alloantibodies when testedwith a full panel of cells, the newly adsorbedserum was only tested with a three-cell anti-body screen.

RESULTS: A total of 58 patient samplesknown to contain warm autoantibodies wereevaluated using the current method and themodified 1:3 Method. Forty-eight cases (83%)were successfully adsorbed using both meth-ods. Of these 48 cases, 20 (34.5%) containedunderlying alloantibodies. In all 20 cases withunderlying alloantibodies, the 1:3 Methoddemonstrated the same antibody specificitiesand reaction strengths as the current method.Eight cases failed to be adsorbed by both thecurrent method and the 1:3 Method andrequired allogeneic adsorption usingPolyethylene Glycol (PEG). The 1:3 Methoddetected underlying alloantibodies in threecases (two anti-E, one anti-f) that were notdetected using the current method. Twocases successfully autoadsorbed but failed toalloadsorb by both methods.

CONCLUSION: The 1:3 adsorption methodproved to be efficient as well as effective forquick removal of autoantibodies while allow-ing for the detection of underlying alloanti-bodies. Moreover, the 1:3 adsorption methoddemonstrated equal or comparable results tothe currently accepted adsorption method ina total adsorption time of only one hour.

INTRODUCTION

Red blood cell (RBC) autoantibodies, whenpresent in the serum of a patient, will react

with the patient’s RBCs as well as all normalRBCs. These autoantibodies have the potentialof masking the presence of underlying clinicallysignificant alloantibodies. When a patient withwarm autoantibodies in the serum is in urgentneed of an RBC transfusion, the time-intensiveadsorption process to remove autoantibodiescan adversely impact patient care. Currentpublished adsorption procedure1 (currentmethod) used by reference laboratories andtransfusion services can require 4-6 hours tocomplete with no guarantee of successfullyremoving the autoantibodies.

….Read More.

The Sol Haberman Scholarship Awardis given in memory and honor of Dr. SolHaberman, a pioneer immunohematologist, tireless

teacher and researcher. The award represents the continuing search for excellence in blood banking.Current and previous year's School of BloodBanking students from any SBB Program in theUnited States are eligible and encouraged to enter.The award includes $300, full registration to theSCABB Annual Meeting, and special recognition atthe banquet.

Entries requirements included submission of apaper based on work completed during training.The paper's subject matter must be related toimmunohematology. Interested students shouldreview the detailed award description and entryrequirements at www.scabb.org. Entries are beingaccepted now through January 14, 2013.

Questions? Contact Sarah Jones, AwardsCommittee Chair at [email protected] or SCABBCentral Office at [email protected]

O 2012 Sol Haberman Award - Ryan Nobles, MLS(ASCP)SBB

6 www.scabb.org

EXECUTIVECOMMITTEE

President Kirk Kitchen, MT(ASCP)SBBAmerican Red Cross1814 B West Abingdon DriveAlexandria, VA 22134Office: [email protected]

President-ElectJeannie Gardner, RNOklahoma Blood Institute1001 N. Lincoln Blvd. Oklahoma City, OK 73104 Office: [email protected]

Vice PresidentTom ChoiExecutive DirectorUnited Blood Services1125 Terminal Way Reno, NV 89502-2114 Office: [email protected]

TreasurerChristie Loe-Malone, MT(ASCP)SBBCharter Medical, Ltd.259 Valencia Circle St. Petersburg, FL 33716Office: [email protected]

SecretarySarah Jones MT(ASCP)SBB St. Luke’s Donor Center9720 Broadway, #1028Pearland, TX 77584Office: [email protected]

Immediate Past PresidentJose Garcia QualTex Laboratories6211 IH-10 West San Antonio, TX 78201Office: [email protected]

DISTRICT DIRECTORS

District I – (TX)Diane Lechuga, MT BB (ASCP)Corpus Christi Medical Center 3315 South Alameda, PO BOX 8991Corpus Christi, TX 78411 Office: [email protected]

James GiacolettiCarter BloodCare2205 Highway 121Bedford, TX 76021 Office: [email protected]

District II (AZ, NM, CO, OK, NV)Dustin ConoverOklahoma Blood Institute1101 N. Lincoln BoulevardOklahoma City, OK 73104Office: [email protected]

District III (AR, LA, MS)David Gremillion,MT(ASCP)SBB MS HPOur Lady of The Lake Regional Medical Center5000 Hennessy Blvd. Baton Rouge, LA 70808Office: [email protected]

District-at-Large LeeAnn Walker, Med, MT(ASCP)SBBImmucor, Inc.3130 Gateway Dr.Norcross, GA 30071Office: [email protected]

Central Office Karla Darnall, Executive DirectorSouth Central Association of Blood Banks866-649-6550 Ph866-649-6590 Fxwww.scabb.org

Tina Hargis, Education/Registrar

Liz Pearce, Accounting

Ashley Combs, Member Services

O 2012-2013 Board of Directors