Newsline (Winter 2006)

AABB: Geyer, Dr. Strong, Blood Center in Spotlight

For anyone who didn’t know it before, the October 2005 AABB Annual Meeting in Seattle confirmed that Puget Sound Blood Center is a leader in its field.


Maria Elena Geyr was nominated for the Chapman-Franzmeier
Memorial Award by America's Blood Centers CEO Jim MacPherson.

While AABB stands for American Association of Blood Banks, it is a decidedly international organization, and AABB members from around the world – nearly 8,000 of them — came to see Puget Sound Blood Center. Many also came to learn from the Blood Center.

But most already knew about the Blood Center. They knew it as a pioneer in blood research. They knew it as a pioneer in transfusion medicine. And they knew it as perhaps the most successful steward of a community blood supply that there is.

 
  Dr. Mike Strong

Honors
Likewise, many knew Mike Strong, Ph.D., as the Blood Center’s executive vice president and chief operating officer and also as AABB secretary/ treasurer and vice president for the past two years. At the Seattle meeting, Dr. Strong became AABB’s president-elect. He will become president in 2006 at the annual meeting in Miami.

Among the Blood Center functions that report to Dr. Strong is donor recruitment. And many at the four-day meeting recognize the Blood Center as a leader in that field, too. AABB made it official when it presented Maria Elena Geyer with the Chapman- Franzmeier Memorial Award.

Geyer, the Blood Center’s vice president of Donor Services, earned the award for her exceptional leadership in donor recruitment. She was recognized as someone who “has helped many others by making significant contributions to the association and its members to enhance the effective recruitment of blood donors.”

Before receiving the award, Geyer gave a speech about donor recruitment called, “Giving Life to Our Community.” In it, she emphasized the application of the same professional principles used to pioneer other facets of blood banking.

“Recruiting is just as important to the success of this Blood Center as our medical staff, researchers and laboratories.” It takes management commitment, a dedicated plan, the right team, a desire to succeed and a willingness to reach out to the community, she noted.

And she’s made it work. So much so that her successful strategies are being leveraged throughout the United States, enhancing the effective recruitment of blood donors nationwide.


Geyer (seated, center) celebrates her award with Blood Center staff: Dr. Sherrill Slichter (seated, left), Linda Yriondo (seated, right) and (standing from left) Barbara Del Beccaro, Dave Leitch, Sandy Linauts, Dr. Richard Counts, John Reagan, Cecily Nagel, Karen Kirby and Kim Busse.

AABB is…
…an international organization consisting of nearly 1,800 institutions and 8,000 individuals located throughout the United States and in 80 countries. Its mission is “to advance the practice and standards of transfusion medicine and related biological therapies.” Members include physicians, scientists, medical technologists, nurses, researchers, administrators, blood donor recruiters and public relations personnel. For more information on AABB, visit its Web site at www.aabb.org.

Staff Kudos
High points of the AABB Conference were the tours of the Blood Center’s Central facilities and the Renton processing and testing facilities. Dozens of Blood Center staff worked hard before and during the visitor tours to make sure AABB members would have an enjoyable as well as educational experience.

Judging by attendee comments, staff was successful. Nearly 400 blood banking professionals from around the globe took the Blood Center tours and came away smiling — impressed by both the facilities and the staff who led them on the tours.

In addition, many other Puget Sound Blood Center staff members took an active part in the AABB conference, including those who presented abstracts in poster form. They and their subject matter are: Lynn Craig, Donnie Elliott and Donna Vaudrin,“BCS Leadership Training;” Elaine Raymond, Laurene Armstrong, Debbie Cooley, “Reducing Annual Red Cell Loss Deferrals;” Karen Nelson, Dr. Strong,“Screening of Tissue donors for Detection of HIV-1, HCV, WNV, AND HBV DNA;” and Judy Murk, Russ Juntenen, Sandy Linauts, “Real-Time Electronic Documentation — Blood Processing Critical Data.”