Community Blood Council of NJ Hosts Delegation of State V.I.P's, Demonstrates state-of-the-art ALYX Blood Donation System...

On October 22, 2003, TV cameras rolled, reporters took notes, and VIP’s observed as the Community Blood Council of NJ hosted a live demonstration of the ALYX, the newest state-of-the-art, automated blood collection system manufactured by Baxter Healthcare. One of the first blood centers nationwide to offer the ALYX, CBCNJ now provides donors with an exceptionally fast, comfortable and convenient way to double the amount of red cells they donate.
After the demonstration, the festivities moved to the General’s Quarters at the Mercer County Airport for a Blue Ribbon Luncheon to honor the governmental departments of New Jersey, plus key donors, for their many contributions to the Community Blood Council of NJ.

The featured speaker at the awards luncheon was JoyceAnn Tippett, mother of fourteen-year-old Lindsey Tippett. Lindsey suffers from Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer that usually afflicts adolescents. Lindsey’s cancer, though, is inoperable because it is located behind her right eye. Mrs. Tippett spoke passionately about her daughter’s need for blood and platelets, and how she had to wait for more than one transfusion because her critical numbers had not dropped low enough.

Easing the Critical Need
Although New Jersey hospitals have sufficient blood on hand for most immediate needs, if there is a crisis there is a real possibility of a blood shortage. Most blood centers in New Jersey, from which our area hospitals obtain blood, have only a one- or two-day supply, instead of the five- to seven-day supply that is ideal.

One of the problems is that eligibility criteria for blood donation are more stringent. Intended to protect the safety of the blood supply, it has the unfortunate result of decreasing the eligible donor pool. This creates a widening gap between the demand and supply of blood components, which can result in blood shortages and treatment delays. New Jersey is typical of states around the country that regularly face this problem.

The ALYX system helps to address this critical need.
As Patrick Deschenes, CEO of the Community Blood Council of New Jersey explains, “The cutting-edge technology of the ALYX system maximizes the benefit donors can provide to patients and increases the supply of critically needed red blood cells. Having two ALYX devices which can be used puts us in a better position to meet increasing blood supply needs of New Jersey and Delaware Valley hospitals.”

Currently, red blood cells are primarily collected through manual whole blood donations. In this traditional approach, the whole blood is divided manually into therapeutic components – platelets, plasma and red blood cells – after it has been collected from a donor. Manual donations produce a single transfusion dose of red blood cells. With automated red blood cell collection technology, such as the ALYX Component Collection System being used now by Community Blood Council of NJ, only red blood cells are collected, returning the other components, such as platelets and plasma, back to the donor. This process allows two transfusion doses of red blood cells to be collected from a single donation.
Warren Cummings, a principal engineer with the New Jersey State Department of Transportation, was the demonstration donor on the ALYX at the event on October 22nd.