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View our semi-annually printed BBR Newsletter!
 2010 Winter Newsletter
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My Uganda Adventure by Katie Gruenholz,
Blood Bank of the Redwoods Quality Assurance Coordinator
 I had the great privilege of visiting Uganda last summer with my friend, May Geria, and we stayed with her sisters, Gloria and Barbara. As part of our visit, I really wanted to see the Nakasero Blood Bank in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The blood bank has been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Uganda Red Cross Society for making significant progress towards goals set by the African Health Ministers. We squeezed the visit between trips to the national park to gawk at zebras and hippos and visiting the source of the Nile.
On a warm rainy day we headed over to the blood bank. I was lucky enough to meet with the Donor Recruitment Manager, as well as the Lab Manager who gave me a tour. The blood bank’s mission is broad in Uganda. It trained 250 people from 22 countries in transfusion services. They had recently expanded their testing facilities and products, and even increased their donor incentive program by giving away t-shirts. Nearly 75% of blood collected is used by children and pregnant women under the Maternal and Child Health Program. Blood is also used for accident victims, and they have started collecting blood products to treat cancer patients.
While touring the facility, it was amazing to see that the challenges they face are similar to ours. They were in the process of validating transport coolers for their hospitals, which is one of my tasks here at BBR. While we only have to validate containers for 24 hours, they had transport times up to 3 days to reach outlying areas! The day we visited the blood bank they were trying to recover after 3 long days on back-up generators, and along with some events in Kampala, it made blood collection difficult. The blood bank expanded hours and set up drives around the city to meet the continuing need of
hospital patients.
After the tour I saw one of these blood drives, which had a long line of people waiting to donate. Seeing the community respond to the shortage in the same way ours would was very moving. As I drove by I couldn’t help but think that blood donors and blood bankers are the same type of folks the world over. They do whatever is needed to meet the needs of their patients… and everybody likes a free t-shirt.
The Safe Blood Africa Project - Making a difference in Nigeria
 Blood Bank of the Redwoods, along with other California blood centers, is taking part in The Safe Blood Africa Project lead by the Rotary Club of Carmel Valley, CA. The mission is to support voluntary blood donor programs in areas of Nigeria where blood is not readily available from blood banks and when storage is an issue. Due to the lack of refrigerated facilities, it is common practice for families to purchase blood from people off the street. With the high incidence of HIV, hepatitis, and other diseases, using unscreened blood is dangerous. The Safe Blood Africa Project works with hospitals in Nigerian communities to set up safe blood practices and provides refrigerators and generators to store blood.
For more information about the program go to www.safebloodafrica.org.
 Local Blood Banking
By Dr. Thomas S. Stanton
“The presence of a local blood banking facility ensuring the ready availability of blood products is absolutely essential to the practice of modern cancer medicine.”
Today’s aggressive chemotherapy and radiotherapy regimens have resulted in better outcomes for patients with cancer and leukemia, but these results are often achieved at the cost of temporarily lowering blood counts. As a result, patients require transfusions. While the use of bone marrow stimulating drugs such as erythropoietin can help reduce the degree of anemia these treatments cause, they cannot entirely eliminate the need for transfusions.
Patients with diseases of the bone marrow such as myelodysplasia that lead to a gradual decrease in the ability of the body to manufacture blood are often supported for many months or even years with red cell transfusions.
Platelet transfusions are absolutely vital to prevent bleeding problems in patients with very low platelet counts, especially those with leukemia undergoing treatment. It is not unusual for such patients to require dozens of platelet transfusions during a prolonged course of chemotherapy. Platelet donors who voluntarily undergo repeated apheresis donations to supply this vital blood product are truly unsung heroes.
Indeed, with our aging population and declining death rates from heart disease, cancer is emerging as the leading health risk for the “baby boom” generation. The need for blood product support has never been greater and will continue to increase in the future. Improving the donation rate for this essential but perishable “gift of life” should be a priority for all communities.
Dr. Stanton is a hematologist and medical oncologist in private practice with the Redwood Regional Oncology Center in Petaluma. He has been the medical director of oncology services at Petaluma Valley Hospital since 1991.
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