Recent research on the benefits for volunteers and those who receive volunteer services suggest that

Page 2

National Blood Resource Program

INTRODUCTION TO THE AHA

"BLOOD PROJECT FILE"

INTRODUCTION TO THE AHA "BLOOD PROJECT FILE"

Blood and its components are a major need in hospitals today. Exclusive of military requirements, the nation requires in excess of six million units of blood per year. These can come only from human donors. Hence, the operation of a blood program is essential in today's hospital. Hospital auxiliaries can be of assistance to their hospital and community blood programs by assuming a leadership role in interpreting the programs to the public. They can also assist in the operation of the blood bank and can serve as examples to others through their blood donations. ... Hospital auxiliary members can contribute importantly to both hospital and community blood programs by supporting these with the united weight of their opinion and by helping to make them better understood among their family members and their circle of acquaintances. Additionally, they can help to foster the concept of replacement in kind rather than by money payment, and they can support predeposit assurance program with their own donations of blood. In areas where such programs do not exist, they can play a leadership role in bringing about their formation. Programs to encourage the voluntary donation and replacement of blood offer auxiliaries new opportunities for service. To help auxiliaries take advantage of these opportunities, this publication provides background information on blood banking and procurement, programming ideas, and techniques of implementation. An auxiliary must base its decision to embark on a blood program on: (1) a general understanding of blood banking and procurement, (2) precise information about the blood banking system in its own community, (3) the approval of its hospital's administration, (4) the cooperation of the local blood banking system, and (5) acceptance by the auxiliary's membership of the effort that the blood program will require. In short, a decision to begin a blood program can be made only after careful investigation and thorough preparation. The responsibility for such actions should be assigned, with preliminary approval from administration, to a committee on blood. Initially, this committee should be charged to familiarize itself with blood banking and procurement procedures, to study the community's blood banking system and the hospital's role in that system, to investigate possible programs, and to present a specific program for the auxiliary to adopt. It is recommended that the committee on blood begin its task by reading the material contained in Appendixes I and II of this publication. Appendix I, excerpted from John B. Jennings' Introduction to Blood Banking Systems, contains definitions of the three types of blood banks found in the United States: hospital blood banks, community blood banks, and Red Cross blood banks. All three have one thing in common; that is, they are all voluntary. Each also has unique qualities, which are clearly delineated in the definitions. Two articles make up Appendix II: "Blood Banking Programs ... Vital Service Opportunity for Auxiliaries," by James B. Hartney, M.D. and "Trends in Blood Banking," a two-part article by Dorothy Green. Both articles have been written to give the lay person, the nonspecialist, general information about blood banking procurement.

Armed with the requisite general information, the committee should next contact representatives of the local blood banking system and members of the hospital staff concerned with blood procurement to obtain precise information about the local situation and system. As part of its study of the community's current blood program, the committee will want to ascertain to what extent volunteers are already involved in assisting the blood banking system. Where the community's blood program is already receiving extensive volunteer assistance, the auxiliary should consider supplementing that effort rather than embarking on an independent program. Having completed its preliminary studies, the committee is ready to consider particular programs through which the auxiliary may appropriately assist its hospital and/or the local blood bank in obtaining voluntary donations and replacement of blood. Five programs are discussed in this booklet: the Community Information Program; the Blood Replacement Program in the Hospital; the Predeposit Blood Assurance Program; Standby Donor Recruitment Program; and Volunteer Assistance at the Donor Site. In deciding which program, or combination of programs, it wishes to recommend to the auxiliary for implementation, the committee should rely heavily on the advice of the appropriate hospital representatives and the administrators of the local blood banking system. Only with such advice can the committee reach the right decision, and only with the approval and cooperation of both the hospital and the local blood bank can the auxiliary implement this decision. The committee should also take into account the willingness of the auxiliary to support a blood program, for no blood program can be a onetime effort. The need for blood is constant, all year, every year. If the auxiliary commits itself to a program to support the voluntary donation and replacement of blood, it must determine that this will become permanent, to be continued year after year,

Up to the moment when the committee on blood makes its recommendation to the auxiliary, it has functioned as a study group. Once the recommendation has received both auxiliary and hospital approval, the committee becomes an action group, charged with implementing the program it has developed. At this point, it will want to involve others who have special skills or responsibilities. For example, the assistance of the auxiliary's community relations committee is essential to a community information program on blood or in a predeposit blood assurance program; the auxiliary's volunteer services committee and/or the hospital's department of volunteer services should be called upon for assistance in a program of blood replacement in the hospital or of volunteer assistance at the donor site.

In addition to the resources within its own auxiliary and within its hospital, the committee on blood should make good use of materials suggested in Appendixes III and IV of this pamphlet. The jacket that accompanies this pamphlet is provided as a place to keep supplementary materials such as those listed in Appendix III and IV. Appendix lll lists education and training materials related to blood and blood banking. These include publications, films, radio and television spot announcements, and a display. Some of them can be used to educate auxiliaries involved in the blood program, others to promote the voluntary donation and the replacement of blood, and still others have been included as examples of the kinds of materials that have been used in particular programs. Because many of these materials fall into the audiovisual category, and because audiovisual materials are excellent for educating, training, and motivating people, a list of publications and one film on the development and effective use of audiovisual tools, have been included in Appendix IV. Sources of blood supply vary from community to community, but the need for blood across the nation remains constant. Auxiliary efforts to support the voluntary donation and replacement of blood, whether the donations be made within the hospital walls or in the community at large, will result in benefits to the hospital, to its patients, and to the community.

Periodically, the AHA carries out surveys on interesting aspects of

the hospital field. Two recent surveys pertaining to blood banking are

In 1969, all registered hospitals were queried concerning
volunteer work in the hospital. Results were published
in the March 1971 issue of Hospitals, the association journal.

Almost 60% of hospitals in the United States were found to be served by auxiliaries, most commonly found in community hospitals. The number of hospitals which have auxiliaries and the size of the auxiliaries have remained approximately the same during the past decade. In 1968, there were more than one million auxiliary members who sponsored a variety of activities.

The survey indicated that in 1968 17% of the auxiliaries were involved in blood donation programs,

including the sponsorship of bloodmobiles, blood

The smallest percentage of programs was found

In July of 1971, the AHA's Bureau of Research conducted a survey to determine volumes and sources of blood obtained by hospitals. The survey was carried out on a 10% sample of hospitals. On the basis of the survey, it was estimated that the nation's 5,800 community hospitals transfused almost three million units of blood during a recent sixmonth period, with 20.8% being supplied by the hospitals! own blood programs. Other sources were as follows:

It was further estimated that the average charge per unit of blood transfused was $38.00; however, it was stated

that limitations of the structure of the questionnaire made

the total amount of blood transfused which came from

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR AND CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL
ORGANIZATIONS (AFL-CIO)

The AFL-CIO, a national labor organization whose membership numbers

over 15 million workers, has been involved with the nation's blood resource

since its beginnings during World War II. Initial involvement was designed

to encourage union members to give blood. Almost three decades have

passed since that time, during which the AFL-CIO has exerted strong leader

ship through the local unions to urge rank and file members to participate in

their area blood programs by giving blood on a regular basis. This support

has been directed at the blood donor programs within the community, which

have included Red Cross blood programs, community banks, and, in some

cases, blood banks operated by the local unions. The statement of under

standing developed by the American Red Cross and the AFL-CIO in 1960 is

presented in Exhibit V-9. In addition, the AFL-CIO has prepared and dis

tributed a manual on blood banking.

The most significant activity of the AFL-CIO during the past ten years,

as it relates to the blood resource on the national level, has been its efforts

to promote a national voluntary blood system. In February 1971, the Exec

utive Council of the AFL-CIO reaffirmed its support for a nationally con

trolled blood program. Its position statement is shown in Exhibit V-10. The

major points called for in the Executive Council's statement were as follows:

A nationally controlled program developed by the Red Cross

Federal licensure of all blood banks

Replacement of blood insurance programs with voluntary blood assurance programs

The labeling of commercial blood as "high risk" blood

The outlawing of all commercial blood banks

In essence, the AFL-CIO strongly supports the creation of a nonprofit,

monopolistic blood system to be managed by a national organization, prefer

ably the American National Red Cross, if it is willing and able to accept such

an increased task. The AFL-CIO opposes the payment of blood donors

because of the conviction that the nation can meet its total blood needs on a