Lifestream Blood Bank

Education activities the safety and adequacy of the community blood supply is the first priority for lifestream. however, lifestream also makes every effort to anticipate and respond to customer needs and to provide information and education about blood banking, critical need for blood donors, and new developments in transfusion medicine to the communities it serves. lifestream initiated an academic internship program to promote academic, career and personal development for students attending local educational institutions. it is our intention to become a valued partner in the academic community. the typical experience lasts from three to six months. the academic internships are different from short-term jobs or volunteer work in that they have a written learning agreement which is structured and monitored by the organization. lifestream offers a series of continuing education programs in the form of audio conferences presented by american association of blood banks (aabb) and american society for clinical pathology (ascp). these audio conferences are linked to a telephonic newtwork across the nation. during fy 13-14,9 aabb audio conferences with more than 62 participants were arranged using lifestream's conference rooms. the aabb audio conferences provide the blood banking and transfusion community with up-to-date information on current standards, accreditation requirements, medical and scientific advances, as well as administrative and managment practices. the ascp tele-conferences provide information on issues impacting pathology and laboratory medicine, diagnostic and interpretive developments, technological advances, evolving government regulations and more. continuing education units are provided to the participants in fulfillment of requirements for licensing renewals and other professional improvement programs. lifestream has a transfusion technical advisory committee that meets several times a year. physicians responsible for transfusion medicine from hospitals are invited to share ideas and concerns regarding services being provided by lifestream discussions are focused on emerging health care topics and day-to-day operational issues. these meetings provide the organization a"customer's view" of how we are performing and opportunities for improvement. discussion of emerging issues, new medical testing to prevent potential life threatening diseases from transfusion, appropriate use of blood products and other important discussions and ideas take place at these meetings.

Community outreach: lifestream partners with various nonprofit and support groups by making its conference rooms available to community organizations for meetings and presentations. lifestream participates in health fairs when requested. it also recruits employees and volunteers by regularly participating in career fairs. lifestream is a member of many community chambers of commerce and regularly participates and educates on blood donations and the needs of the community. lifestream's medical directors provided lectures for grand rounds at various hospitals and to the county medical societies on topics related to blood products, transfusions, disease prevention, appropriate use of blood products and transfusions to save patients lives. lifestream has developed "a patient's guide to blood transfusions", "high school donors can make a difference" and "healthy eating for healthy blood". pamphlets in english and spanish to be distributed throughout the community to educate the public on transfusions and donations. lifestream's management staff contributed to the blood banking industry on a variety of levels, donating their time and talents. these employees participated in regional and national blood banking organizations as program presenters and committee/board members. these organizations include the aabb, america's blood centers (abc) and california blood bank society (cbbs).

Volunteers: lifestream depends on the valuable help provided by volunteers.