FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Puget Sound Blood Center Welcomes International Conference to Seattle

American Association of Blood Banks Annual Meeting held in Seattle Oct 15 – Oct 18, 2005

OCTOBER 11, 2005, SEATTLE WA — Puget Sound Blood Center welcomes the attendees of the international American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) to Seattle.  The annual meeting, being held this year at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center, begins Friday, October 14, 2005 and runs through Tuesday, October 18, 2005.  General hours of the conference are 9am – 5pm each day. 

The meeting gathers those who operate blood banks and centers throughout the United States and from around the world to a forum for updating education, the latest in technology and networking.  Topics for this years meeting include Nanotechnology, Blood Platelet Storage and Cellular Therapy.  Attendees will learn a lesson in successful unique team building during Saturday’s 8am breakfast from Seattle’s own fish flinging Flying Fish Consulting Team.  Sunday evening attendees will have the opportunity to visit with over 180 vendors at the T-Expo, also held at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center.

AABB is an international organization consisting of nearly 1,800 institutions and 8,000 individuals located throughout the United States and in 80 countries.  Their mission is “to advance the practice and standards of transfusion medicine and related biological therapies.”  Members include physicians, scientists, medical technologists, nurses, researchers, administrators, blood donor recruiters and public relations personnel.  For more information on AABB see their website at www.aabb.org.  During the conference you can contact the pressroom at 206-219-4653.

Celebrating over 60 years of innovation, Puget Sound Blood Center blends community volunteerism, medical science and research to improve patients’ lives, the Blood Center serves patients in more than 70 hospitals and clinics in 14 counties.  The Blood Center provides blood services, provides tissue and transplantation support to 185 hospitals across the Northwest.

Although the Blood Center is based in the Greater Seattle area, the impact of our organization is global.  It is, for example, one of the leading research organizations in the Northwest.  And it’s the world’s largest centralized blood transfusion service. This year alone, the center will provide countless life-saving services, touching the lives of over half a million people here in the Northwest and around the world.

For more information on Puget Sound Blood Center please see our website at www.psbc.org.

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