Spring 2010

President's Message
First, let me congratulate Darla Chambers, past president for a very successful annual
meeting in Annapolis, Maryland. She and the Board of Directors forged a collaborative
effort with a local microbiology group and produced a stellar meeting. As for me, I am the
2010/2011 President of MAABB. I have held multiple positions over the years in the or-
ganization: committee member, Maryland delegate, committee chair, Vice President.
My involvement with MAABB began not long after I started working in a local hospital
blood bank. Someone thought I had something to give the organization. Yet, over the
years I think I have gained just as much as I have given, if not more. The friendships,
both personal and professional, will last a lifetime. My time with MAABB is always well
spent and is one of the easiest ways to network with other blood bankers. One of my first
tasks will be selecting the location for the Annual Meeting in the near future. The Board of
Directors and I will evaluate, based on member input and vendor feedback, the possibility
of continuing the collaboration. I appreciate your ideas and suggestions from the meeting
evaluations, and look forward to hearing of what you want and need from MAABB. Visit the MAABB website to for-
ward your suggestions.
As we move into our new year, the MAABB Board will work diligently to identify ways to provide quality and afford-
able education to meet your needs. As best you can, we hope you and your facilities will take advantage of the excel-
lent topics and speakers MAABB has to offer. This year we will offer a Webinar, a new medium for us. Use of this
delivery method will bring the best right into your lab or home, wherever you access the web.
The biggest challenge for me this year is to continue to provide affordable educational experiences for all technolo-
gists, bench techs, specialists and supervisors. This will push MAABB to expand our delivery methodology and use
technology to our and our members’ advantage.
Membership is an area of concern for all organizations, and MAABB is no exception. Members will continue to have
access to the membership directory from the MAABB website. Dessert meetings, a more intimate setting for mem-
bers to connect with one another and spend quality time with some of the best minds in our field, will be offered. If
you would like to host a Dessert Meeting at your facility, please contact us now, since we will be scheduling the Fall
meeting.
I would like to thank everyone for your continued support and involvement with MAABB. We could not continue to be
successful without you. I would like to welcome all of our new members and encourage your involvement in a com-
mittee such as Education, Annual Meeting Planning or Member Relations. I look forward to serving your needs as
President and planning another outstanding Annual Meeting for 2010!

Inside this Issue

Interest Article :Due Diligence for Biovigilance 2-4 Member Spotlight 5
Editor’s Note 4 2010 Annual Meeting Wrap-Up 6-7
Webinar Information 5 New Member Application 8

www.maabb.org
 Interest Article

Due Diligence for Biovigilance

Wendy M. Paul, MD
Associate Director, Transfusion Medicine
Children’s National Medical Center
Washington, DC
Pick up any newspaper, tune in to any news program, or listen in on a conversation on the subway. The topic of pa-
tient safety occupies air time and the minds of the public, and in the last decade has become a high-profile public
health concern. Medical errors have been cited as being responsible for as many 44,000 – 98,000 preventable
deaths each year according to a report issued by the Institute of Medicine in 19991. Subsequently, the Patient Safety
and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 enacted legislation supporting the establishment of a network of patient safety
organizations and a national patient safety database2. The intent of the Act was to create a culture of quality im-
provement through voluntary and confidential reporting of adverse events. Five years later the topic of biovigilance
has created a similar stir within the transfusion community. Many centers have limited understanding of how biovigi-
lance is applicable to their operations, what the requirements and responsibilities for participation are, and the scope
of potential benefits. Has your transfusion service done due diligence with regard to comprehending the movement
toward biovigilance?
What is Biovigilance?
In the broad sense it is defined as watchfulness, attention, observation and awareness of outcomes resulting from
the administration of “biologics”, which in our business includes drugs, blood and blood products, and tissues. In the
context of patient safety initiatives, Biovigilance is one component of the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)
which is a secure internet-based surveillance system created by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The NHSN
is a four part system consisting of the following components: Patient Safety, Healthcare Personnel Safety, Biovigi-
lance, and Research and Development. The NHSN allows facilities to collect and use data about healthcare-
associated infections, multi-drug resistant organisms, personnel safety and vaccination trends, and adverse events
related to transfusion of blood and blood products.
The Biovigilance Component was created at the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and
Availability (ACBSA) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and developed in collaboration with
the transfusion and transplant communities. Specifically, the AABB initiated an inter-organizational Task Force on
Biovigilance whose objective was the development of “a comprehensive and integrated national patient safety pro-
gram to collect, analyze, and report on the outcomes of collection and transfusion and/or transplantation of blood
components and derivatives, tissues, organs, and cellular therapies”3.
While biovigilance includes tissues, and organ transplantation as well as blood products, the Hemovigilance Module
was the initial module developed for use, with additional modules anticipated in the future. National surveillance sys-
tems which report and monitor outcomes in transfusion recipients currently exist in most other developed countries3,
propelling the move to establish a similar system in the United States.
Why do we need a Hemovigilance Module?
Data published in the 2007 National Blood Collection and Utilization Survey Report (NBCUS)4 showed that approxi-
mately 14.6 million units of whole blood and red blood cells were collected in the United States in 2006, and trans-
fused to approximately 5 million recipients, averaging 1.5-3.0 units per recipient. The 2007 NBCUS also reported
72,000 adverse events resulting in a rate of 0.32 %, which may represent underreporting in the United States, based
on comparisons with surveillance systems in other countries with rates ranging from 0.3-0.7%3.
Continued on page 3

EDITOR’S TRIVIA QUESTION

What is the blood donation process?

www.maabb.org 2
 Interest Article Contd. Does your company need
Despite the safety standards established by the Food and Drug Administra- to target blood banking
tion (FDA) for facilities that collect, process and distribute blood (among them and transfusion medicine
donor screening, infectious disease testing, maintenance of deferred donor professionals?
records, quarantine of all untested products, and donor eligibility verification),
the risk of non-infectious complications still exists, due to immune and physi-
ologic mechanisms as well as systematic and/or human error. Capturing the
occurrence of adverse events in a standardized format should yield data that Put your
would “provide early warning systems of safety issues, exchange of safety
information and promote education and the application of evidence for prac-
tice improvement.”3
ad here!
What does Hemovigilance mean for my facility?
There is currently no module available for blood collecting facilities; however
baseline data for severe adverse donor reactions was collected in the 2007
NBCUS anticipating future development of a donor safety module.
According to the NHSN Biovigilance Component Protocol, “surveillance For advertising information
should be performed by hospital transfusion services and can be performed please contact Amie Eubank
in any adult or pediatric acute or chronic care facility where transfusion oc- at eubank@eventstrategy.net
curs, including patient care areas for emergency, general medical, and surgi- or 859-264-7822
cal patients; obstetrics and gynecology; orthopedics, oncology, and other
chronic diseases; and any other patient care setting where transfusion ser-
vices are provided.”3
The NHSN Biovigilance Component Manual is available at www.cdc.gov/nhsn/bio.html
The manual provides guidelines and procedures for monitoring hemovigilance. Specifically it provides standardized
case definition criteria for adverse events, including severity grades. It also outlines surveillance methods, details
reporting requirements, and provides instruction for the completion of data collection forms using the NHSN web ap-
plication. It should be noted that reporting adverse events to the NHSN does not replace current FDA reporting re-
quirements.
How do we get started?
Before attempting to enroll directly through the NHSN website, contact the infection prevention team at your facility to
determine if your facility is already a member of the NHSN. If so, you do not need to re-enroll to use the Biovigilance
Module. A facility may utilize as many of the components as desired (with the exception of the Research and Devel-
opment Component which involves internal CDC activities focused on enabling infection control software systems to
communicate directly with NHSN).
If your facility is enrolled in NHSN, your NHSN Facility Administrator must activate the Biovigilance Component.
Once activated, the Administrator can designate a Biovigilance Component Primary Contact and add at least one
NHSN User with rights to the Biovigilance Component.
If your facility has not previously enrolled in NHSN, enrollment requirements and on-line training units can be found
at www.cdc.gov/nhsn/enroll.html
There is no cost to participating facilities, beyond the human resources and computer hardware required for the pur-
poses of reporting.
AABB-CDC Sponsored Activities5
The AABB Annual Meeting and CTTXPO October 9-12, 2010, in Baltimore, Maryland will offer a unique venue to
learn more about the biovigilance movement. The following is a list of educational opportunities scheduled:
· AABB Biovigilance Pavilion
· “Biovigilance 101 Session”
· “Implementing Hemovigilance- Experience of Hospitals Large and Small”
Continued on pg 4
www.maabb.org 3
 Interest Article Contd.
· CDC Biovigilance Booth
· CDC Hemovigilance Module Training Day, October 7, 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland (registration www.cdc.gov/
nhsn/bio/registration.html)
· AABB-CDC “Ask the Biovigilance Experts” Session
There are a vast number of resources available to support the transition of adverse event reporting activities from our
local systems to the national surveillance repository of the NHSN. The capability to track, trend and interpret the
data will improve the safety of the products we transfuse. As blood bankers and transfusion medicine specialists, the
due diligence required to create a culture of safety, should be our standard operating procedure.
References:
1. Kohn, Linda T.; Corrigan, Janet M.; Donaldson, Molla S., eds (2000). To Err is Human—Building a Safer Health
System. Washington, D. C.: National Academies Press.
2. PUBLIC LAW 109–41—JULY 29, 2005 PATIENT SAFETY AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2005.
3. The National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Manual, Biovigilance Component. Division of Healthcare Qual-
ity Promotion National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (proposed) Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention Atlanta, GA, USA.
Available at www.cdc.gov/nhsn/bio.html
4. AABB Survey. The 2007 National Blood Collection and Utilization Survey Report. Available at http://
www.hhs.gov/ophs/bloodsafety/2007nbcus_survey.pdf
5. Williams, Lamont. AABB Annual Meeting to Feature U. S. Biovigilance Network Activities. In: AABB News July
2010 Vol. 12 No. 7. Bethesda, MD.
Editor’s Note
The majority of Blood Centers in the United States are operating with less than one day's supply of blood, according
to the Association of Operating Room Nurses, Inc. This means catastrophe could possibly follow. We can categorize
a blood shortage as a disaster. We should have the same level of public support for blood shortage as we do for any
mother nature disaster. Patients who need blood in emergency situations absolutely depend on a readily available
supply.
Washington, DC; Philadelphia; Baltimore have been hit hard by the blood shortage. With a limited blood supply, sur-
gical procedures, organ transplantation, and routine medical procedures become more dangerous. Reasons for the
blood shortage include a public misperception that enough blood is available. The current shortage is pushing the
system to its limits. The shortage is being credited to the increased demand for complex treatments such as organ
transplants, heart surgeries, and chemotherapy.
Not many people realize that aggressive chemo-
therapy requires blood to replace damaged blood
cells. But the bottom line is that more individuals
must now donate blood, it really comes down to
new donations.
To donate blood, one must be healthy, at least 17
years old and weigh 110 pounds or more. Ap-
pointments can be scheduled. Call your blood
donor center near you and make an appointment.
Everyone have a safe spring and summer.
Walter Cancel Jr.

www.maabb.org 4
 MAABB offers its first educational Webinar!

Title: Performing Effective Internal Assessments

Date/Time: Thursday, September 16 12:00PM EDT
Audience: Blood Bank Supervisors/Managers, QA Staff, Technologists

Objectives:
· Describe the rationale behind performing internal assessments
· Identify different approaches for performing internal assessments
· Develop strategies for managing the results of internal assessments

Description: Internal assessments are a requirement of all AABB Standards. This webinar
will discuss strategies for performing internal assessments that are both effective and
meaningful to the organization.
Level: Intermediate
Registration will open August 9 at www.maabb.org

Member Spotlight
MAABB would like to welcome Ruth Ross as the new Secretary for the Board of Directors.
Ruth is currently working in the Blood Bank at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Vir-
ginia. Ruth’s responsibilities include acting as the functional System Administrator for the
Blood Bank computer system as well as serving as the Supervisor of Quality Control which
includes oversight for all validations. Ruth is currently training on red blood cell deglyceroliza-
tion procedures so that she can manage the training of all techs prior to their deployments on
the ships. Ruth also works closely with the Blood Bank Medical Director in the coordination
of continuing education for the anesthesia residents as they rotate through the Blood Bank.
Ruth is an active AABB assessor and enjoys scrapbooking and traveling. She is scheduled
to travel to the Republic of Malawi in August on a mission trip for her church. Ruth is a wel-
come addition to the Board of Directors and we look forward to working with her in the coming year.

NEW MEMBERS!
Decole Russell, AS, MLT(ASCP)- WRAIR, Silver Spring, MD
Daisy Martinez, MT(ASCP)- Civista Medical Center, La Plata, MD
Jill Dalrymple, MT, AMT- Civista Medical Center, La Plata, MD
Jeannette Duren, MT- Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring, MD
Veronica Freeman, BS- Howard University Hospital, Washington, DC
Theresa Boyd, MD- Howard University Hospital, Washington, DC
Myong Nam, MD- Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, VA

www.maabb.org 5
2010 Annual Meeting

www.maabb.org 6
 2010 Annual Meeting Wrap-Up
The first 2010 MAABB Annual Meeting and Maryland Clinical Microbi-
ology Conference was a success!! For those members who attended, I
hope you were pleased with the outcome. We realize it was definitely
a trial run and we have more details to work on before moving forward
next year. The Anne Arundel Health Sciences Institute facilities were
excellent and we received very positive comments from the attendees.
The lecture topics were timely for both Blood Bank and Microbiology
tracks. Although there were some last minute changes and cancella-
tions of speakers and topics which sometimes cannot be avoided, the meeting was a success. The evaluations were
positive and many attendees expressed interest in a combined meeting for next year.
Throughout the planning year, the main concern of MAABB was to offer an Annual Meeting that would be affordable
and that would allow the organization to stay within budget limits. We were successful accomplishing that goal this
year and that will help us move forward financially. We were also pleased that we were sold out on exhibitor space
and many exhibitors expressed interest in coming back next year as well as having a combined meeting next year.
The board does realize we were limited on the amount of vendor space in the facility and will take that into considera-
tion when planning for next year.
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please visit the website and view the Annual Meeting pictures. I would like to extend
my appreciation to Janet Cass-Baxter and Dave Torpey who were instrumental in helping us bring the meeting to-
gether. It was a huge undertaking to combine two annual meetings with historically different formats into one happy
marriage!! Like any great relationship, there were challenges and compromises to be made. In the end, the collabo-
ration was a success. I think there is definite benefit for various organizations in the allied health fields to partner to-
gether for education!! It allows all organizations to be more efficient, cost-conscious and offer more of a variety of
education for attendees.
Last but not least, we appreciate all of our members who were able to attend the Annual Meeting this year and be-
come a part of history. We continue to welcome your ideas for future meetings and encourage your involvement with
committees!! We also review the annual meeting evaluations closely for comments and suggestions. In order for
MAABB to continue successfully in the future, we need more involvement from new members. Please contact any of
the board members listed on the website if you would like to become more involved with our committees!!
I would like to welcome Michele Hunt, the MAABB President who will successfully lead MAABB over the next year.
Michele has many years experience as an educator and understands the educational needs of blood bankers!

Darla R. Chambers, MT(ASCP)SBB

MAABB Past President

EDITOR’S TRIVIA ANSWER

Registration Process to be a Blood Donor

Health History, Mini Physical and qualification
Collection of the Blood
Refreshments Available After Donating Blood

Being a Blood Donor - A Selfless Act

www.maabb.org 7
 MAABB Officers and Delegates
OFFICERS
President
Michelle Hunt, hunt@usa.redcross.org
Vice President
Kathy Angel, kvangel1@comcast.net
President Elect
Kathleen Whitlock, Kathleen.Whitlock@med.navy.mil
Secretary
Ruth E. Ross, ruth.ross@med.navy.mil
Treasurer
Patricia Schwaninger, pschwaninger@shorehealth.org
Past President
Darla Chambers, darla_chambers@bayhealth.org

DELEGATES
Delaware
Leslie Allshouse, allshous@udel.edu
Jennifer Ingram, jaykaying@comcast.net
District of Columbia
Al Langeberg, langebea@gunet.georgetown.edu
Wendy Paul, wmpaul@cnmc.org
Maryland
Janet Cass-Baxter, jcassbaxter@aahs.org
Judith Sullivan, jsullivan@aabb.org
Virginia
Patrick Francis, pfrancis@its.jnj.com
Joyce A. Westerman, joyce.westerman@langley.af.mil

INFUSION
Editor
Walter Cancel, walter.cancel@medstar.net

Publisher
Strategy Association & Event Management, darnall@eventstrategy.net

Our Mission
It is the goal of the MAABB to become the most effective state/regional association of
blood banks. This Association serves the Mid-Atlantic region for continuing professional
education in the medical, scientific, technical and administrative aspects of blood
banking and transfusion medicine.
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INFUSION (Spring 2010)