Preparing for and Responding to Mass Casualty Events (26EL-668)

Please note: AABB reserves the right to make updates to this program.

• Educational Track: Technical/Clinical
• Topics: Blood Donation & Collection, Patient Transfusion
• Intended Audience: CEOs, CFOs, COOs, Directors, Donor Recruitment Staff, Hospital Blood Banks, Hospitals, Laboratory Professionals, Managers/Supervisors, Medical Directors, Nurses, Physicians, Research Scientists, Residents/Fellows, Students (MD, MT, SBB), Transfusion Safety Officers

• Director: Akakpossa Ananou, MS, MA, MPH, CPH, MLS(ASCP)DLM, SBB, FACHE, PMP, Head, Laboratory Department, U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Sigonella, Italy, Sigonella, Italy
  Moderator: Jed B. Gorlin, MD, MBA, Transfusion Service Director, Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN
  Speakers:

  • John L. Hick, MD, Faculty Emergency Physician, Medical Director for Emergency Preparedness, Hennepin Healthcare; Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
  • Ricardo Sumugod, MS, MLS(ASCP)SBB, Director, Clinical Laboratories, Northwestern Medicine, Chicago, IL
  • Jed B. Gorlin, MD, MBA, Transfusion Service Director, Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN

• Program Description

  Historically, disasters have not challenged local and regional blood supplies. However, the advent of mass violence events (e.g., mass shootings) have radically changed the role of blood and component products in disaster response. The speakers will discuss scenarios in which the blood supply may be challenged, how blood banks may be taxed during a disaster, as well as strategies for integrating the blood bank into interprofessional emergency preparedness exercises and coordinated response efforts. Additionally, the ethical rationing of blood products may be necessary and some frameworks will be discussed, including approaches to collaborative decision-making when resources are scarce, as well as novel products that may contribute to meeting future daily and disaster needs.

  Learning Objectives

  After participating in this educational activity, participants should be able to:

  • Discuss the potential need for large amounts of blood products in the aftermath of a mass casualty incident and the roles of blood suppliers, transfusion services, and clinical teams in meeting patient needs.
  • Define strategies for leveraging scarce blood resources when demand is high, including collaborative approaches to allocation and clinical decision-making.
  • Apply relevant accreditation and regulatory standards and requirements related to emergency preparedness.
  • Describe strategies for collaboratively testing emergency management plans with key stakeholders in the healthcare team.
  • Discuss how innovations in blood components could alter future preparedness strategies and address misconceptions about blood preparedness and scarce-resource planning.

  Registration

  Please note: registration for the live eCast is now closed. Registration is available for the on-demand eCast (access to the on-demand eCast was included with the live eCast registration).

  Single Viewer	Register
  Group Viewing	Register

  Continuing Education Credit

  This activity is eligible for one (1) continuing education credit/contact hour for Physicians, California Nurses, California Lab Personnel, Florida Lab Personnel and General Participation credit. AABB reserves the right to reduce or increase the number of credits granted based on the final activity duration. For more information on each credit type please visit our Continuing Education Credits webpage.

  There is no financial support for this activity.

  

  In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies (AABB), which is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

  Physicians (ACCME): AABB designates this live activity for a maximum of one (1) AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM. AABB designates this enduring activity for a maximum of one (1) AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

  Claiming Credit
  Live Activity - Upon completion of the live activity, you will receive instructions to complete your evaluation, which is necessary to claim credit and receive your certificate of attendance/completion (credit must be claimed by the date provided in the instructions). The evaluation can be found by logging into the AABB Education Platform.

  Enduring Activity - Once the enduring (on-demand) program is available, you will receive instructions to access the AABB Education Platform. Upon completion of viewing the enduring activity, you will need to complete the evaluation, which is necessary to claim credit and receive your certificate of completion (credit must be claimed by the date provided in the AABB Education Platform).

  Program & Credit Expiration Dates:

  • Live Activity Program Date: August 26, 2026; Credit Expiration Date: September 26, 2026
  • Enduring Activity Program Dates: August 26, 2026 – August 25, 2029; Credit Expiration Date: August 25, 2029

  Disclosure Declaration

  It is the policy of the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies to ensure independence, balance, objectivity, and scientific rigor and integrity in all of its CE activities. Faculty must disclose to the participants any relationships with commercial companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. AABB has evaluated, identified, and mitigated any potential conflicts of interest through a rigorous content validation procedure, use of evidence-based data/research, and a multidisciplinary peer review process. The following information is for participant information only. It is not assumed that the presence of such relationships will have a negative impact on the presentations.

  Disclosures for the planners of this event can be found here. Disclosures for the program faculty, peer reviewers, and AABB personnel are provided at the beginning of the program.

  Faculty Biographies

  Akakpossa Ananou is currently the Laboratory Department Head at the U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Sigonella, Italy. He is also the Director of the largest blood depot in the region. Finally, he provides a blood subject matter expert support to the joint force in the United States Africa and European Commands.

  Dr. Jed Gorlin retired July 1 from his roles as vice president of medical and quality affairs at New York Blood Center Enterprises (NYBCe) and medical director for Memorial Blood Centers, Nebraska Community Blood Bank and Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City, capping 28 years of dedicated service to Memorial Blood Centers. He continues to serve part time as medical director, transfusion service, at Children's Minnesota; co-director of the transfusion service at Hennepin County Medical Center; and chief medical officer of America's Blood Centers.

  A pillar of the AABB community for many years, Gorlin has held numerous leadership roles in blood banking and transfusion medicine, including as a past member of the AABB Board of Directors and the AABB Foundation Board of Directors, and as co-leader of the AABB Thursday Forum, a weekly call focused on critical topics in the field. He has served on more than 30 AABB committees, including as chair of the Transfusion Transmitted Diseases Committee, where he played a leading role in expanding donor eligibility through individual donor assessment and in updating the AABB Emerging Infectious Diseases Fact Sheets. He was also the inaugural chair of the Global Standards Committee, which developed the first edition of Fundamental Standards for Blood Collection and Transfusion. In recognition of his service to AABB and the field, Gorlin received the John Elliott Memorial Award in 2019 and an AABB President's Award in 2022.

  Beyond AABB, Gorlin served on the Food and Drug Administration's Advisory Committee on Blood and Tissue Safety and Availability. He also worked as a consultant on AABB-PEPFAR projects in Rwanda and Tanzania and supported national blood development programs in Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan through his work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  
  
  

  Dr. John Hick is an emergency medicine physician at Hennepin Healthcare, a Level 1 trauma center in Minneapolis, MN. He has served as an EMS Medical Director for ground and aeromedical services for over 25 years and provided medical direction for emergency planning and response for the MN Dept. of Health from 2000-2012 and for U.S. HHS Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) from 2012 to present. He has wide background in disaster response including on-scene and coordination level leadership. He is the lead editor for ASPR TRACIE (Technical Resources, Assistance Center, Information Exchange). He developed the taxonomy for crisis standards of care and has been a member or co-chaired multiple National Academies of Medicine projects related to CSC. He has a particular interest in surge capacity and healthcare system strain management, critical care expansion, and response to radiation events including nuclear detonation.

  
  

  Ricardo Sumugod is currently a Clinical Laboratory Director at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. He directs the health system blood banks and esoteric testing laboratories including Flow Cytometry, Cytogenetics, Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics.