
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 25, 1994                   TAG: 9402250195
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

RED CROSS TO START COLLEGE IN BLOOD WORK

The American Red Cross, which has been attacked for inadequately safeguarding much of the nation's blood supply, will establish a national college in Fairfax County, Va., to train workers in the latest blood-handling techniques.

The program will begin by summer and is the result of the nonprofit group's continuing review of its blood supply operations, Red Cross President Elizabeth Dole said Thursday.

The college, as the Red Cross calls it, will provide courses lasting weeks and months in handling blood, said Karen Shoos Lipton, acting senior vice president for the group's biomedical services.

The Red Cross has been harshly criticized in recent years for violations of blood safety laws and regulations at its collection and testing facilities. Last spring in federal court, it and the Food and Drug Administration signed a consent decree on how blood collection operations should be run.

The FDA called Thursday's announcement significant because it indicated Red Cross recognition of the need for formal training.

- The Washington Post

by CNB