Hospital Newsletter

Medication made from plasma has made regular emergency room visits a thing of the past for this patient 

Every four to five weeks, Emily Otis starts her morning routine several hours earlier than usual and makes her way to Royal Victoria Health Centre in Barrie, Ont.   

Equipped with her latest knitting project in one hand and a big cup of coffee in the other, she receives a large infusion at the hospital over the course of about six to eight hours. The infusion is of immunoglobulin, a specialized medication made from plasma — the straw-coloured component of blood that makes up most of its volume. Every dose is made through a process that pools plasma from thousands of people, all of whom Emily credits as lifesavers.   

“It allows me the freedom to live my life again,” she says. “Considering that five years ago, I felt wellness slipping through my hands every day, this newfound control over my life is a big deal.”  

A hematologist had found that Emily had undetectable levels of a particular antibody called Immunoglobulin A (IgA). Her exact diagnosis was Common Variable Immunodeficiency with selective IgA deficiency. Bottom line: her immune system was in crisis. 

Emily is one of thousands of patients in Canada who rely on immunoglobulins, the plasma protein products for which demand is growing fastest. For her and many others, there is no other treatment option, and the number of conditions treated with immunoglobulins continues to grow. 

Follow along with the rest of Emily’s story as she regains control of her life here.

Blood Efficiency Accelerator Award Program helping team establish national best practices for out-of-hospital transfusions 

Following a trauma in a remote location, an air ambulance urgently makes its way to pick up a bleeding patient. Due to their injuries and the amount of blood loss, the patient is at risk of hemorrhagic shock, but is still many miles and precious minutes away from reaching a hospital. This is one of the crucial moments when out-of-hospital transfusion may be used to help save the patient’s life. 

Out-of-hospital transfusion, often abbreviated as OHBT and also known as “pre-hospital transfusion”, is the transfusion of blood components, products, or whole blood that occurs prior to a patient’s arrival at a hospital, usually during transport. 

Studying OHBT in Canada to understand how they are carried out and whether there is a gap between protocols and practice can improve transfusion practice for patients in the future. Understanding more about OHBT is also important when it comes to the efficient use of Type O-negative blood, the type that is universally received and therefore very precious to maintain in the national supply. 

Through Canadian Blood Services’ Blood Efficiency Accelerator Award Program Dr. Brodie Nolan and his team helped establish national best practices for OHBT based on 39 recommendations obtained from national subject matter experts and then looked at how closely current practices compared to these recommendations to identify opportunities for improvement and standardization. 

“Not only do air ambulances have the greatest distances to cover, they tend to be needed by the sickest patients. If we look at the reason why OHBT has evolved, it came from a trauma lens,” Dr. Nolan says. “The idea of stocking air ambulances with blood is to try to help bridge these patients to get to the hospital for the definitive care needed for survival.” 

Learn more about Dr. Nolan’s research into out-of-hospital transfusion here.  

Our new resources for health-care professionals 

To support best practices in transfusion medicine, Canadian Blood Services develops educational resources in collaboration with subject-matter experts from across Canada.  

Visit our professional education website, a trusted resource hub for health-care professionals across the country, and check out these new resources: 

• Informed consent for blood transfusion. This interactive online course supports health-care professionals in understanding the basics of informed consent, including how to obtain an informed consent for transfusion of blood products and components, risks and alternatives. Available in English only. 
• FAQ: Delisting of directed donations at Canadian Blood Services. This FAQ provides information about the discontinuation of Canadian Blood Services’ Directed Donations Program. Also available in French. 
• Clinical Guide to Transfusion, Chapter 4, Immunoglobulin products—now available in French. Immunoglobulin (Ig) products are manufactured from large volumes of donated plasma and may be used as replacement therapy for immunodeficient patients or as immunomodulatory therapy for autoimmune and alloimmune disorders. This updated chapter in the Clinical Guide to Transfusion includes information on intravenous Ig (IVIg), subcutaneous Ig (SCIg), and hyperimmune globulins such as RhD Ig (RhIg).   

Also, on blood.ca eight research impact case studies that highlight the impact of Canadian Blood Services’ investments in research and education are now available. 

Subscribe to our Research & Education Round Up Newsletter to get monthly updates on the latest news, publications, and events from Canadian Blood Services’ research and education network.  

Heart & Sole: The Dylan Kalambay Story 

Heart & Sole: The Dylan Kalambay Story is a documentary following a promising young basketball player as he returns to the court after a life-saving heart transplant. 

In November of 2020 when Dylan was in high school in Toronto, he experienced heart failure at the age of 16. Over the next six months he had open heart surgery and thanks to a generous donor he received the heart transplant that saved his life. 

About a year later, after a long and challenging recovery, Dylan stepped back onto the court to pursue his dream of obtaining an NCAA Division 1 basketball scholarship and becoming the first player ever to do so with a donated heart. 

The film features Toronto Raptors world champion and NBA All-Star Pascal Siakam, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse, as well as the parents of Logan Boulet whose story inspired more than 100,000 to become registered organ donors following the Humboldt bus crash in 2018. 

Through the documentary Dylan hopes to educate young people about the life-changing impact organ donation can have. 

Canadian Blood Services has organized screenings of the documentary in Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary. At the premiere in Toronto the screening was attended by partners Ontario Health - Trillium Gift of Life, University Health Network, Sick Kids Hospital, the High School Outreach Initiative, representatives and partners of the basketball development community in the GTA and Canada and the film’s producers and director. 

Financial supporters of Canadian Blood Services helped fund this film. 

You can watch the full documentary here.