A person who has achieved the Specialist in Blood Banking (SBB) certification is a medical laboratory scientist who receives advanced training in blood banking and transfusion medicine and has passed an examination given by the American Society for Clinical Pathology. There are several pathways or "eligibility routes" to qualify for the examination to obtain SBB certification, with the most common route involving enrollment in a Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs-accredited SBB program. The goal of this study was to compile information about the current accredited SBB programs in the United States and SBB exam statistics for purposes of assessing changes in the programs and detecting trends in SBB exam takers and pass rates. SBB program coordinators were surveyed about qualitative and quantitative aspects of their programs. Current data, changes over time, and nationally available data were tabulated for comparison. This information may be helpful for all medical laboratory scientists interested in considering further studies and certification in blood banking and transfusion medicine.

Chronically transfused patients with thalassemia are at risk for red cell alloimmunization. No studies have specifically examined alloimmunization after implementation of prophylactic Rh (D, C, E) and K matched red cells in a racially diverse population of thalassemia patients and donors. This retrospective study examined Rh antibodies among 40 chronically transfused patients (Asian, White, Black, Indian, Middle Eastern) with thalassemia receiving a mean of 174 serologic prophylactic RhD, C, E, and K matched red cell units. We examined the patients' RH genotype, as well as donor race and Rh phenotypes over 3 transfusion events preceding antibody detection. Eighteen alloantibodies were detected in 13 of 40 patients (32.5%), with an alloimmunization rate of 0.26 antibodies per 100 units transfused. Thirteen antibodies (72.2%) were directed against Rh (5 anti-D, 4 anti-C, 2 anti-E, 1 anti-e, 1 anti-V), despite donor phenotypes that confirmed lack of transfusion of D, C, or E antigens to patients lacking the corresponding antigen(s). Ten of 40 patients had an altered RH genotype, but the Rh antibodies were not associated with patients with variant RH. Black donors with a known high frequency of RH variants provided 63% of the units transfused in the 3 visits preceding unexplained anti-Rh detection. Rh alloimmunization not explained by the thalassemia patients' RH genotype or the donors' serologic phenotype suggests more precise matching is needed, and the role of donor RH genotypes on alloimmunization should be explored. Extending Rh D, C, and E matching to include c and e would result in better-matched units and further minimize Rh alloimmunization.

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The American Rare Donor Program (ARDP), headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, maintains a comprehensive database of donors with "rare blood types." The ARDP secures blood and blood products for difficult-to-transfuse patients. Remarkably, a significant number of physicians, both in the United States and abroad, remain unaware of the unique and critical services that the ARDP provides to critical care specialists and their patients.