"You never get to see where [the blood] comes from, and that’s the hardest part, not being able to thank that person.”
- Jesica, Blake's Mom
Blood Donors Saved Blake's Life
Blake was born on September 29, 2009 at St. FrancisHospital in Federal Way.
Immediately, nurses noticed that Blake wasn’t getting as pink as he
should. He had purple fingers and toes, and his skin never gained
a rosy color like it should. The doctors quickly diagnosed him
with Transposition of the Greater Arteries. Blake’s pulmonary
artery and aorta were switched, sending the blood into the lungs and
back into the heart, instead of into the lungs and out to the body to
deliver oxygen to his limbs. Blake’s condition was life threatening, and
the only treatment was surgery.
Cascade
Regional Blood Services is constantly trying to better serve our
donors and the hospitals in our community. As you may have noticed on
your last visit to the Tacoma Donor Center, improvements have been made to our donor floor.
In
the past several months, CRBS has made changes to our donation areas
and equipment. The pheresis and whole blood donor areas have been
successfully integrated to one space that allows our staff to better
serve donors. Significant updates have also been made to equipment and
furnishings to better fit our regulatory obligations and improve the
donor experience.
On Friday, March 5, Tacoma School of the Arts High School
held their largest blood drive ever, registering 145 donors! SOTA has a
total enrollment of just under 500 students. With hard work and
dedication, the students were able to recruit one third of their
student body to donate blood!
Cascade
Regional Blood Services, in conjunction with seven other health and
medical organizations, is participating in the development of the
Region 5 (Pierce County)
Health and Medical Mitigation Plan. Once the plan is adopted by the
blood center’s board of directors and approved by Washington State
Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, our
organization will be eligible for Pre and Post Disaster Hazard
Mitigation Funds from the Federal Government. Hazard Mitigation
is defined as “those actions taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term
risk to people, property, social infrastructure, or the environment
from hazards and their effects.”
Blake was born on September 29, 2009 at St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way.
Immediately, nurses noticed that Blake wasn’t getting as pink as he
should. He had purple fingers and toes, and his skin never gained
a rosy color like it should. The doctors quickly diagnosed him
with Transposition of the Greater Arteries. Blake’s pulmonary
artery and aorta were switched, sending the blood into the lungs and
back into the heart, instead of into the lungs and out to the body to
deliver oxygen to his limbs. Blake’s condition was life threatening,
and the only treatment was surgery.
Blake
was quickly transferred to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital where he
was scheduled for open heart surgery just four days after being
born. In order for Blake to safely survive his surgery, he needed
special blood products from Cascade Regional Blood Services, and he
needed them fast. Blake’s blood type is O negative, a rare blood
type that is found in only seven percent of the population. CRBS was
able to recruit the right blood donors to have enough blood ready for
Blake’s surgery later that week.
Blake
is now a healthy six-month-old baby boy! Doctors expect for him to
live a completely normal life. Blake’s family is extremely
grateful for the help they received from blood donors in our community.
Blake’s mom, Jesica, said, “[Blood donation] is such a selfless
gift. It’s hard to think of it as a donation, because you don’t
think of it that way when you see what it turns into. It’s more
of a gift…You never get to see where [the blood] comes from, and that’s
the hardest part, not being able to thank that person.”
Blake’s
family graciously agreed to be the subject of our billboard campaign
for 2010. Look for the billboards around South King and Pierce Counties in the next couple months!
NEWS: Big Changes on Donor Floors
Cascade
Regional Blood Services is constantly trying to better serve our
donors and the hospitals in our community. As you may have noticed on
your last visit to the Tacoma Donor Center, improvements have been made to our donor floor.
In
the past several months, CRBS has made changes to our donation areas
and equipment. The pheresis and whole blood donor areas have been
successfully integrated to one space that allows our staff to better
serve donors. Significant updates have also been made to equipment and
furnishings to better fit our regulatory obligations and improve the
donor experience. Bob Dalton, Chair of the Cascade Regional Blood
Services Board of Directors, said, “The new Trima automated donation
devices and updates to our donor centers are excellent in our ability
to manage inventory and better serve our community and the hospitals we
serve.”
During
the transition, CRBS administered a donor satisfaction survey
measuring donors’ opinion of facility improvements. Through the survey,
we were able to make adjustments to make our donors more comfortable
while donating. In the past couple months; we have added new
individual TVs and DVD players for use by automated donors. Free Wi-Fi
is also now available to all donors in the Tacoma Donor Center as well as the Puyallup Donor Center.
Cascade
Regional Blood Services will continue to make improvements to all
donor centers during the next several months. During this time CRBS
appreciates your patience and continued support of your community blood
center.
COMMUNITY: Tacoma School of the Arts Blood Drive
On Friday, March 5, Tacoma School of the Arts High School held their largest blood
drive ever, registering 145 donors! SOTA has a total enrollment of
just under 500 students. With hard work and dedication, the students
were able to recruit one third of their student body to donate blood!
Humanities
instructor, Debbie Shapiro, coordinates a blood drive every year in
conjunction with four different health classes. All four classes
come to the Tacoma Donor Center
for a field trip. They learn about the donation process and how
Cascade Regional Blood Services processes the blood after it is donated.
After the tour, the classes go to work on creating different
committees to make the blood drive successful.
The classes put a huge amount of effort into planning, recruiting and making sure every donor was thanked for their life saving gift. The students had an entire room, the Bat Cave, filled with donated goodies, including food and handmade gifts for everyone!
Cascade Regional Blood Services is very thankful of the effort SOTA put toward their drive. Enjoy the photos!
Health & Medical Mitigation Plan
Cascade
Regional Blood Services, in conjunction with seven other health and
medical organizations, is participating in the development of the
Region 5 (Pierce County)
Health and Medical Mitigation Plan. Once the plan is adopted by the
blood center’s board of directors and approved by Washington State
Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, our
organization will be eligible for Pre and Post Disaster Hazard
Mitigation Funds from the Federal Government. Hazard Mitigation
is defined as “those actions taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term
risk to people, property, social infrastructure, or the environment
from hazards and their effects.”
CONTACT US
Tacoma Donor Center 220 South I Street | Tacoma, WA 98405 Phone: (253) 383-2553 Fax: (253) 572-6340 or (253) 383-6083
Puyallup Donor Center 205-15th Avenue SW | Puyallup, WA 98371 Phone: (253) 841-4236 Fax: (253) 841-9760
Federal Way Donor Center 909 S 336th Street, B-102 | Federal Way, WA 98003 Phone: (253) 927-0540 Fax: (253) 927-0543
