AM25-SN-28-L - When the Refrigerator Is Bare – Innovations from the Blood DESERT Coalition

Session Description: Blood deserts, locations where there is no reliable access to blood transfusion, are present throughout the world spanning low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs). Measures to provide life-saving transfusion in blood deserts require innovation, creativity, and transdisciplinary collaboration. This program is facilitated by the Blood DESERT Coalition (https://blooddesertcoalition.org/).

This session will examine the concept of a blood desert in HICs and LMICs through case studies about walking blood banks (WBBs), emergency transfusion protocols (ETP), and supportive oversight enabled through transdisciplinary governance, such as hospital transfusion committees (HTC). The program includes use cases, ETP and WBB design and development, and considerations for integration of WBB and ETP within the health system. Methods for development of emergency transfusion protocols (ETP) will also be explored, including the inclusion of TXA and drone-based blood delivery. Generation of evidence, transdisciplinary support, and governance and oversight of ETPs will be discussed.

The session is intended to help rural hospitals, ambulance services, and municipal health care services. This session explores three case studies of program implementation in Canada, Kenya, and in the US. Its target audience is professional blood bank staff, clinical practitioners, and transfusion medicine physicians, as well as students, residents, and others interested in future directions of blood banking.