Updated on 02/13/12

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Updated February 13, 2012
Created by:
 M. Grijalva & B. Dohnal

Building bridges: Delegation from Ecuador visits Central Ohio Region Blood Services, the National Blood Testing Laboratory, Philadelphia, meets with PAHO and ARC officials and attends the AABB meeting.

Experts from the Ecuadorian Red Cross, including Ecuadorian Red Cross President Dr. Frank Weilbauer, joined with the Honduran Red Cross, American Red Cross Central Ohio Region and TDI on a seven-day fellowship in early November to explore new technology, blood banking practices and quality control.

For two days the delegation toured the Central Ohio Blood Services Region, in Columbus, Ohio, and investigated best practices in volunteer blood donor recruitment, hospital services and laboratory services. 

 The delegation then flew to Washington, D.C., to attend the American Association of Blood Banks annual conference.  The conference offered forums in Spanish and addressed current topics in volunteer blood donor retention, infectious diseases, developing technology, and lab equipment.

Karla Schwarzbauer, MD, Honduran Red Cross, said that her favorite part of the trip was visiting the National Testing Laboratory in Philadelphia, two hours from Washington, D.C., by train.  “It was incredible; we hope to apply many procedures and practices to our labs in Honduras.” 

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