ORBCoN recaps the 18th Annual Transfusion Medicine Education Workshop and Symposium

Tracy Cameron is the North and East Ontario regional manager for the Ontario Regional Blood Coordinating Network (ORBCoN). ORBCoN was launched in 2006 with funding by the Ontario Ministry of Health to provide an organized and integrated approach to blood management in Ontario through the engagement of hospitals and Canadian Blood Services. Since 2007, ORBCoN and Canadian Blood Services have partnered in hosting an annual ORBCoN/Canadian Blood Services Transfusion Medicine Education Workshop and Symposium for transfusion health-care professionals. Presenters at this year’s event included Canadian Blood Services medical officers Dr. Johnathan Mack and Dr. Michelle Zeller, along with medical director and special advisor, Dr. Kathryn Webert. 

This article originally appeared in the June ORBCoN newsletter. It has been edited for length and/or clarity.  

The Ontario Regional Blood Coordinating Network (ORBCoN) and Canadian Blood Services co-hosted the 18th Annual ORBCoN/Canadian Blood Services Transfusion Education Workshop and Symposium held on April 26th and 27th of this year.  

The workshop aimed to educate community hospital staff involved in transfusions, including ordering physicians, nurses that administer the components and products, and technologists involved with testing and preparing components and products. The workshop focused on autoantibody cases while the conference focused on platelets, plasma, and fibrinogen products.  

Dr. Johnathan Mack presented two different cases for each tier based on the difficulty of the transfusion medicine lab workup. The plenary program aimed to help attendees understand the different components other than red blood cells, their risks and benefits, strategies to reduce adverse events, and recommend appropriate components for clinical situations. Dr. Andrew Petrosoniak discussed Fibrinogen replacement, Dr. Michelle Zeller covered platelet usage, and Dr. Kathryn Webert presented on the benefits of solvent detergent plasma.  

Recorded presentations from the event can be viewed on ORBCoN’s website.

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The opinions reflected in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Canadian Blood Services nor do they reflect the views of Health Canada or any other funding agency.