Sample Why? Campaign Sign by Jayme Fites

Beginning with National Hospital Week and continuing through the month of May, we will honor our blood donors with a Why? Campaign. Donors will be invited to explain in four words or less “why” they donate blood on a large “campaign sign”.

Donors will complete the phrase: “I give blood because….” Photographs of donors holding their Why? Campaign signs will be displayed in several locations, including at the blood bank, on Facebook, and in a special gallery on this website. CEO and President, Greg Gallion was among the first to complete a sample Why? Campaign sign. His said: “I give blood because it saves lives!!” Read Gallion’s letter to the community about this campaign and our partnership with hospitals.

We hope to collect more than 100 Why? Campaign signs during May 2012.

National Nurses Week is an annual recognition of the work of the nation’s nursing professionals. This year the theme is Nurses: Advocating, Leading, Caring, and we certainly depend on our nurses to have those qualities. The work of the blood bank relies upon our nurses: Valerie, Bronny, Carlena, Jeri, Cindy, Shelly, Iris, Carla, Linda and Mandy. They counsel with donors, lead staff, and show they care about our donors and blood donation on every mobile drive, as well as daily at the blood bank.

Nurses Valerie, Carlena, Jeri, and Shelly

Nurse Jeri says that she enjoys the mobiles because of the “different surroundings and variety of people.” Mobile drives are “the place where the team effort needs to kick in,” she adds. To be a blood bank nurse, Jeri believes it takes “the ability to multi-task, compassion and tactfulness.  It involves being flexible, and a sense of humor makes everything better.”  Valerie says that “getting to know donors, having friendships and relationships with people you see time and time again”, makes blood bank nursing rewarding.  She adds it also takes “the ability to be adaptable and make good decisions in a time crunch.” Carla adds “It is nice to work with selfless donors willing to help others.”

All our nurses seem to relish their work with healthy, compassionate people willing to serve those who are ill or injured.  We applaud the service of all our nurses to the mission of the blood bank, our donors, our community, and the patients we serve.

The theme for National Hospital Week, May 7-12, 2012 is Making Miracles Happen.  This theme is a true reflection of our partnership with hospitals since we work hand in hand with them to ensure miracles do indeed happen every day. By linking the lifesaving blood components provided by our generous volunteer donors to hospitalized patients, we help save lives and restore health. There is no greater miracle than that.

To celebrate National Hospital Week we are hosting a blood drive sponsored by Mercy and Memorial Hospitals of Bakersfield, Dignity Health Members.  Thanks to these local hospitals we will have a drawing for three $50 gas cards each day of the drive.  What a great way for some lucky blood donors to kick off their summer travels!  All local hospitals require O- and O+ blood supplies for patients with those blood types, as well as for trauma patients whose blood types are unknown.  It is hoped this drive will attract new donors, some of whom will have O- or O+ blood.  Since established donors can only give 6 times a year, it is crucial to keep new donors coming in to meet growing local needs.

“Our hospitals work closely with us to ensure that inventory levels are maintained in a manner that allows us to best manage blood components,” said Patrick Clary, Manager of Materials and Blood Inventory. ”Because of this we seldom lose any components because they are outdated.” We celebrate our hospital partnerships and the resulting miracles of health and life that result through this celebration of National Hospital Week.

Global Youth Service Day is billed as the largest service event in the world, with 95 countries on 6 continents scheduled to perform 2,628 projects from April 20-22, 2012.  Engaging youth with service to humanity is certainly a fundamental goal of ours, and we are teaming up with JJ’s Legacy to encourage youth not only to donate blood, but to sign up to be organ donors on their licenses and in the donor registry with a kick-off evening social Thursday, April 19, from 3-7 pm.   JJ’s Legacy is sponsoring a prize package of dinner for four to Chipolte plus four movie passes for one lucky donor chosen by raffle.  There will be numerous other food, beverage, and service coupons available during the kick-off event as well.  April is Rusty’s Pizza month, so Rusty’s finest will be served during the event and free individual pizza coupons will be given to all donors. The blood bank is open until 8:00 pm.

Also on Thursday evening, a JJ’s Legacy volunteer will be available to explain why signing up on the Donate Life registry is crucial for those who wish to offer their organs at death. It is a little known fact that the pink dot alone on a license may not be enough to make one’s wishes known when tragedy strikes.  We will be exploring ways to grow our partnership through youth leadership for this global event in 2013.

This year’s celebration of Global Youth Service Day will continue through Saturday, April 21 at 3:00 pm. The winner of the JJ’s Legacy evening out prize package, as well as the winners of the National Volunteer Week gifts displayed in our canteen, will be notified on Monday, April 23, 2012 .

Jerry Rowland of Ben & Jerry’s thought it was a natural:  a pint for a pint.  Why not celebrate Free Cone Day by hosting a blood drive in the East Hills Mall near our local Ben & Jerry’s store?  That is just what we did last April, and it was a resounding success.

So let’s do it again in 2012 on Tuesday, April 3, from noon to 7:00 pm. We will bring the blood bank to east Bakersfield in a terrific storefront location in the Gottschalks wing of the East Hills Mall.  Each donor will receive a free pint of Ben & Jerry’s finest ice cream in exchange for their pint of blood, a delicious Chick-fil-A sandwich, and a goodie bag from The Vitamin Shoppe.  Compassionate Dragon will offer soothing massages to donors as well. The Lotus Radio Group is providing marketing support for the event.

We hope to see 150 donors during the drive.  The need for O- and O+ donors in particular continues. This is a great event for new donors to give blood donation a try. Anyone who has a bit of extra time during the spring break should consider giving back to our community during this great event which also raises funds for the good work of the Bakersfield Homeless Shelter.  Mascots, magic shows and more are part of this happening event. We thank Ben & Jerry’s for hosting this terrific day of community service for a second year.

Many of us remember the surge of blood donations nationwide in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York City on September 11, 2001.  When disaster strikes, most people look for ways to help, and donating blood seems to be one way to give of ourselves in the face of tragedies.

How people react in the face of disaster is the subject of a 6 week program sponsored by the Kern County Library under a California Reads: Searching for Democracy Grant.  The Kern County Library initiative is called Disaster & Democracy, and focuses on Rebecca Solnit’s book A Paradise Built in Hell. In the book the author concludes that during disasters, first responders and ordinary citizens can work together to temporarily create a more perfect democracy. Numerous programs will discuss the book and the “what ifs” of disasters that might loom ahead. Houchin Community Blood Bank’s blood drives are featured as part of the activities because blood donors, if not in person, are among the first to provide aid to those injured in disasters.

Among the disasters to be discussed during library programming are the recent Reno air race crash, Hurricane Katrina, the Bakersfield fires that destroyed downtown Bakersfield in the late 1800s, and the 1952 earthquake which affected both Bakersfield and Tehachapi.  Possible disasters like a flood caused by the Isabella Dam breaking, or the effects of a huge earthquake shaking our neighbors to the south and impacting us with their flight, will also be explored.

Being prepared for disaster is the job of many county, city, state and federal employees, and also for our Safety Officer Randy Greenlee.  It is his job to ensure that we have a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) in place to assure we are able to continue operating in extreme conditions and stay in touch with other blood banks and emergency responders to insure the public need for blood in times of crisis. Blood banks plan to be self-sufficient for at least 6 days or more if isolated. The California Blood Bank Society recognizes Houchin Community Blood Bank as the Central Area Emergency Operations Center (CAEOC) for California. Northern California’s center is in Sacramento, and Southern California’s is in San Diego at their respective blood banks.

Just a few of the considerations covered in the COOP are emergency communications capabilities and alternatives, transportation and fuel agreements and alternatives, and power and utilities.  It is interesting to know that we maintain two generators for back-up power, one at the Truxtun draw center, and the other at our G Street facility to supply power to our lab, blood storage, and manufacturing facilities.  In addition,G Street sports a huge radio tower to support local HAM or amateur radio operations.  HAM radio is considered a good back up source of communication if disaster strikes knocking out more modern communication systems.

Assuring that the blood bank remains functioning in unusual circumstances is a huge responsibility but one that Safety Officer Greenlee relishes.  He says: “Our level of response is equivalent to our preparedness. HCBB insures the best quality products are readily available when needed. During Local, State or National disaster situations, HCBB has the ability to activate its Disaster Response Plan, which may involve a network of blood banks, to insure that availability does not change”.

The need for more blood donors is constant, so special blood drives are organized throughout the year to encourage people to give blood donation a try.  Although it is hard to tell what finally makes those who have been meaning to donate come in to do so, a lot of it depends on “being asked”. Numerous local businesses are helping us make that ask with the Eggstra Special Blood Drive during spring break, April 2-7, 2012, at 5901 Truxtun Avenue.

All week blood donors will be able to pick an egg stuffed with a variety of coupons and prizes, redeemable for free activities, food and beverage items.  All donors will also be entered to win one of four $99 value birthday party packages at the Bakersfield Ice Sports Center, or one of four $25 gift cards for the Grocery Outlet Bargain Market.  “We hope this spring fun at the blood bank will help let our donors know how “eggstra special” they are to us, and encourage new donors to become part of our family,” said Carola Enriquez, Director of Community Development. “It is hard to keep donors coming in during vacation times when schedules are disrupted. But our need, particularly for O- and O+ donors, is not taking a break,” she added.

Businesses contributing to the Eggstra Special Blood Drive include: Bakersfield Ice Sports Center, Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, McDonald’s, Jersey Mike’s, BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, Rusty’s Pizza, Sonic, Sport Clips, Camelot Park , and Burger King. Such donor recognition events would not be possible without the support of community partners such as these.