Code Blue

Written by Maureen Buscher-Dang

Houchin blood donors save young mother’s life.

New facility will help community blood bank meet increasing needs.

The planned cesarean section birth of Pedro and Maria Amador’s third daughter this summer at Mercy Southwest Hospital was supposed to be a joyous occasion. But within seconds, the joy turned into a terrifying experience for the young Bakersfield couple and hospital staff.

Pedro had been through the routine before. He had been at his wife’s side in the operating room during the cesarean section births of their first two babies.

“But soon I started feeling something was wrong,” he recalled during a recent interview. “It was taking too long and Maria was getting nervous.”

Within minutes, doctors and other medical staff were being summoned to the operating room, where an anesthesiologist urgently asked, “Where’s the blood?”

As nurses were taking Pedro out of the operating room to accompany his newborn baby, he heard alarms ring out. It was a Code Blue, which was followed by the thundering footsteps of more nurses and doctors running to help.

Forty-five minutes later, a doctor came out to explain to Pedro that there had been “complications.” The placenta had grown into Maria’s uterus, causing her to bleed profusely. A more than two-hour surgery would be required to repair the damage and stop the bleeding.

With Maria’s bleeding likened to the flow of an “open faucet,” Pedro was told to encourage people to donate blood. Their family and friends, including Maria’s National Health Services Clinic co-workers and Pedro’s oilfield associates, heard the call for help. So did “strangers.”

“I went to the blood bank and I saw people I didn’t even know who were saying my wife’s name and that they were there to donate blood,” Pedro said, adding that a high school friend, who he had not seen in a long time, directed her company’s blood bank credits to the effort. “There were a lot of people at Houchin donating for their first time.”

Four doctors and 20 nurses rallied to save Maria, who required the transfusion of 40 units of blood and a week’s stay in the intensive care unit. Called the “miracle lady” by hospital staff, Maria now is recovering from the ordeal. She and baby daughter, Isabella, are doing well.

“I always thought I would donate blood some day, but I had been putting it off,” said Pedro, adding that he and Maria are very grateful to those who helped. “When I was at Houchin, I saw all the pictures on the wall of all those good people who donate blood. Some have given gallons. I am going to become a regular donor.”

The generosity of thousands of Kern County residents who give of themselves—who regularly donate their blood—has allowed Bakersfield-based Houchin Community Blood Bank to become a crucial lifesaving resource for 60 years.

Many families, such as Pedro and Maria Amador and their three children, are eternally grateful for the willingness of people to donate their blood.

Houchin hopes to make its local blood donation and distribution system even more efficient and more capable of responding when families are in need by building a consolidated facility in southwest Bakersfield.

The $10 million, 42,000-square-foot complex being built on Buena Vista Road, south of White Lane, will usher in a new era for Houchin Community Blood Bank. By consolidating laboratory, quality assurance, manufacturing, distribution, information technology, community development, telerecruiting and transportation, the new complex will allow Houchin to keep pace with the community’s rapidly expanding need for blood and blood products.

Houchin has begun a vigorous fundraising campaign to help finance construction of this vitally important consolidated facility that is expected to open next fall. The campaign committee is seeking both individual and corporate contributions. Opportunities for “naming rights” are available throughout the complex. Gifts of all sizes are appreciated and will be recognized during the campaign.

And while many blood recipients, such as Pedro and Maria Amador, may not be positioned to put significant financial resources behind construction of this complex, they are willing to put their personal stories behind the effort to demonstrate how Houchin’s blood donors saved their lives and how important it is that Houchin continues to improve its operations through construction of a consolidated complex.

“This project is being made possible through a generous 5-acre donation of land in the new Seven Oaks Business Park by Bolthouse Properties LLC,” explains Greg Gallion, Houchin’s president and chief executive officer. Bolthouse’s “donation will allow Houchin to build a state-of-the-art facility and continue our vision of providing Kern County with a safe and reliable blood supply for the next 60 years.”

Over the past six decades, medical innovations and Kern County’s expanding population have greatly increased the local demand for blood.

“Medical procedures, such as cancer treatments, have advanced. Bakersfield has an increasing number of healthcare providers that specialize in these treatments serving many more patients,” said Gallion, who noted metropolitan Bakersfield’s population has swelled to more than 500,000.

While this means an increasing number of people must be encouraged to donate their lifesaving blood, it also means that Houchin must remain efficient and innovative in the way it collects and distributes blood products.

“It is important to recognize that keeping Kern County healthy is a team effort. Every member of the team—from first responders, doctors and nurses, to hospitals—provides essential lifesaving services,” said Gallion. “Houchin Community Blood Bank is a critical link between health professionals and the people who rely on their care. It’s truly a partnership of giving back to the community: People helping so that hospitals, doctors, and others can save lives.”

Houchin’s consolidated complex is being designed by Bakersfield architects Paul Skarphol and Associates, and Paul Dhanens. The project’s general contractor is Wallace & Smith of Bakersfield. Local people will be utilized during the complex’s design and construction.

Go to www.hcbb.com for more information about how to become a regular Houchin Community Blood Bank blood donor and how to help with the construction of Houchin’s consolidated complex.

Article appeared in our 28-5 Issue - December 2011