Community Blood Services
to Honor Its Blood Collection Staff
During Ninth Annual Blood Collectors Week

Sept. 8-14, 2013

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From September 8 to 14, Community Blood Services will join other blood centers across the country in celebrating the ninth annual Blood Collectors Week. This annual week recognizes and celebrates the critical role blood collectors serve in helping to ensure blood is available to patients in need.

Community members are encouraged to show their support for the dedicated professionals who collect their life-giving blood and blood products by making an appointment to donate blood, thereby helping their blood collectors meet the blood supply needs of their community hospitals. For more information or to schedule a donation, please call 201-251-3703 or click here.

On Tuesday, Sept. 10 Community Blood Services will host a breakfast for morning mobile blood drive staff and on Sept. 10, 2013 lunch will be offered at all fixed sites to honor its blood collection staff.

�Our Clinical Services� blood collection staff is the indispensable link in the chain needed to provide life-saving transfusions. They are always focused on providing the best possible donation experience and ensuring that our blood products are of the highest quality. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to this hard working and talented group,� said Dr. Ronald Walsh, chief medical officer at Community Blood Services.

According to AABB, more than 20 million units of blood components are transfused annually in the United States. Blood transfusions are a critical component in the treatment of people with serious medical conditions, including cancer patients, organ transplant recipients, and accident and trauma victims. Volunteer blood donors are the primary source of blood used for transfusions.

Blood collection professionals serve an important role in educating donors and helping to ensure a safe and comfortable donation experience. Blood collection staff will help facilitate either a whole blood or apheresis donation. In a whole blood donation, a pint of blood is collected and then divided into its therapeutic components for transfusion. With an apheresis donation, a donor gives a specific therapeutic component � platelets, plasma or red blood cells. Red blood cells represent the blood component in highest demand with more than 13 million units transfused annually.

Blood Collectors week is sponsored by AABB and Fenwal, Inc., a company that focuses on transfusion technologies. AABB is an international, not-for-profit association dedicated to advancing transfusion medicine and cellular therapies. Fenwal is a part of Fresenius Kabi, a global health care company that specializes in lifesaving medicines and medical devices.

�Blood-collection professionals, through their technical and customer service expertise, play a critical role in providing a quality experience for blood donors,� said AABB Chief Executive Officer Miriam A. Markowitz. �Positive blood donation experiences result in committed donors and the establishment of a safe and adequate blood supply for patients in need. National Blood Collectors Week is a wonderful opportunity to thank these professionals for their contributions."

�We are proud to continue our long standing partnership with AABB in supporting Blood Collector�s Week,� said Dean Gregory, president, medical devices for Fenwal and Fresenius Kabi North America. �The role of blood collection professionals cannot be understated and should be recognized since they help save and improve lives every day in our communities. Blood Collectors Week is one way to say �thank you� to them.�