Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / Dereck Kaneshiro from the Blood Bank of Hawai'i on the need for blood right now

Transcript

Dereck Kaneshiro from the Blood Bank of Hawai'i on the need for blood right now · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

• 0:14
  welcome to the One Oahu podcast.
• 0:16
  I'm your host, Brandi Higa.
• 0:17
  And this week we're joined by Dereck
• 0:19
  Kaneshiro donor recruitment account manager for the Blood Bank of Hawaii.
• 0:23
  Is that? Is that title correct?
• 0:24
  Yes, that is correct. Dereck, thanks for making some time for me.
• 0:27
  Oh you're welcome.
• 0:28
  Thanks for having me.
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  So first off, tell us a little bit about yourself.
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  Are you from or who or did you grow up where.
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  Where'd you go to school and how did you get into this type of work?
• 0:36
  Actually, I grew up on the island of Kauai, and
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  I got into this sort of by, I guess, accident, you could say.
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  So I moved here during the pandemic.
• 0:48
  Oh, wow. Okay.
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  So, you know, when everything was still closed, right?
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  So I was looking for work and my prior life
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  was in agriculture, but I've been donating blood for
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  almost 15 years now.
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  And like they always do when they go back to Kauai,
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  they call you, hey, can you donate at the next blood drive?
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  We're coming back.
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  I said, I'm sorry. I'm not there anymore.
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  I moved and updated my address
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  and they're like, oh, you live by Young Street.
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  So I was like, oh, okay, I can I can come donate.
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  So I went to donate and I was like, oh, what what am I working here?
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  So I started working there and then I just stayed
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  because I like working there. So.
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  So what prepared you for this role?
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  Because it's almost like you need to be you have to have a little bit of,
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  you know, medical background.
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  You have to be a little bit of like an HR person.
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  You have to have like this customer service, like front facing,
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  like agriculture to like very, very different.
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  Right? Yeah.
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  So, you could say,
• 1:59
  well, I started
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  in the call center. Okay.
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  So I used to work in a call center many years ago.
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  So I kind of had that background.
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  So I kind of knew how to talk on the phone.
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  So I got started like that.
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  I guess customer service comes naturally.
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  I would like to think, anyway.
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  And then it just kind of grew from there.
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  And because
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  I knew because I was a blood donor.
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  Oh, yeah, I know the process. You know the process.
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  It was easy for me to get people to come through, come and donate.
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  Yeah.
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  And, you know,
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  we got linked up because similarly, I, I've been a blood donor for a long time.
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  It was close to being a center donor.
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  We linked up
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  because I'm the site coordinator for the city's employee blood drives.
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  But how many of these blood drives you personally?
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  Like, what are you responsible for each week?
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  So each week,
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  I would say I have about five blood drives.
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  Average. Okay.
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  It can vary depending on the week.
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  Like this week, for example, you guys had a blood drive.
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  I was there for a little bit.
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  I had to run off to another blood drive that day.
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  I had three that's unusual for me to have and all over the other two.
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  Yeah, I had one downtown.
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  I had the one here and North Shore and I was at BYU.
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  Yeah, that's where I was on Wednesday. Yeah.
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  And can you talk about like what is the need right now?
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  I know fall is here.
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  Everyone's kind of going back to school, back
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  to work, getting back to their schedules.
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  What does the need look like during this particular time of year?
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  So we're coming right out of the summer.
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  So summer is usually
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  our tough time because, you know, school is out.
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  But coming out of this summer, we get better because
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  high school starts, blood drives, starts at high schools, colleges.
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  So we're just starting, but we're still not where
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  we would like to be yet, so we still need people to come and donate.
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  And like, you know, it's an ongoing thing.
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  Yeah.
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  You know, you mentioned you're from County, and we were actually
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  some of the, I guess, dem mayor's office parks.
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  A lot of staff from a little county
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  actually got flown over to Coyote County to help after the hurricane.
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  And when we see these natural disasters, even tropical storms, like,
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  we just experience.
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  So does that change the need? It all?
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  Does that change your operations at all?
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  It does. So
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  with storms
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  coming through, a lot of times you'll see people
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  not come out to donate because it might not be safe for them
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  or whatever reason, or a blood drive might get canceled because,
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  you know, depending on where it is,
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  it might not be safe because they're getting a lot of bad weather.
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  So it can affect us like that.
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  And so how can donors help right now?
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  Like what are what are ways that they can they can give they can help the best way
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  they can.
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  The best way they can help is by, just donating like regularly
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  scheduling it ahead of time.
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  It's the blood that we have
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  on supply, like, right now that helps save lives
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  because if we were to donate blood today,
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  there's
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  testing that need to go through the lab so it's not ready
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  to be used for another two days.
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  So you want to prepare for it?
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  Like, say, if a storm is coming, you want to, get ready before the storm?
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  Yeah, you could say.
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  I'd like you just mentioned when you go to all these drives across the island,
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  the blood that's collected there, like you said, sometimes it takes a few days.
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  So, you know, the city employees blood drive,
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  HFD, HPD even has their own these day of events.
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  How does that help the blood bank and the need right now
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  that helps us ahead of time.
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  So let's say if the holidays are coming.
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  Yeah.
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  An example is Memorial Day, you know, going into the summer.
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  So it's one of the holidays that has more accidents
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  because people go, oh yeah, yeah, it started summer.
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  So we like to get people to donate before the holiday weekend because in case
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  something happens that at least the blood is there, you know.
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  Yeah.
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  And so when you say things like, you know, yeah, crashes
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  tend to happen on those three day weekend drop party graduation season.
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  But what else is this blood used for?
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  Because I know there's folks that go under a regular.
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  So procedures.
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  And yeah I mean the need is daily.
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  So like regular procedures like general surgeries,
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  transplants like say childbirth like.
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  Yeah.
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  But babies, premature, cancer treatments.
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  Yeah.
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  There's this daily needs the ones you see on TV
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  that's like a smaller portion of the pie.
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  Yeah.
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  And so who can donate?
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  Because you know very well a lot of people will say things like, oh,
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  I can't donate it because I traveled recently, or I have tattoos.
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  Yeah.
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  So, to those specific questions, if you traveled
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  now, it used to be a longer wait.
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  Now it's three months.
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  If you
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  went to certain certain country, it's not every country, but certain countries,
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  tattoos or piercings.
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  If you got a tattoo
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  or piercing from, professional, like a licensed shop, then you're fine.
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  Now, before you would have to wait months or even years.
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  Yeah, depending how far back you know.
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  And so what's your message to folks who may be interested in donating?
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  But I've never done so before.
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  If you've never done it before, I would say
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  try it at least once.
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  If you are a donor, I would say bring someone
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  you know who's never done it before, because a lot of the people
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  who I talk to who've done it for the first time, they were just afraid.
• 7:59
  Yeah.
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  And you, you're afraid of what?
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  You don't know.
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  You don't know what to expect, right?
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  So bring somebody who's never done it before.
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  They're going to feel a lot more comfortable.
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  You can walk them through it and help them have a great experience.
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  And it's for a lot of people it's the needle right.
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  So yeah, you know you know they're asked like you know, does it hurt?
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  Well I feel like after we'll have a scar.
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  I mean,
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  it's a needle.
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  You're going to feel something, you know, going in your arm, but,
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  it shouldn't be.
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  You're not going to be sitting there in pain for like, five, ten minutes.
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  You know, I've been doing this for.
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  I've been with the blood bank a little bit over five years now.
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  I have only met one person that said, oh, I like needles.
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  That's why I donate blood. I actually don't mind it either.
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  That's why.
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  I mean, most of us, you know, we don't mind.
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  The one said, oh, I like needles.
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  Everybody else is like they don't mind or they don't like.
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  So yeah, most of us
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  either are neutral or we don't like needles.
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  Yeah.
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  And in this line of work, have you met some of the blood recipients
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  like there is, is there a story that stuck with you that you know,
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  when you go to bed at night, you're like, this is why I do this.
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  Off the top of my head, okay.
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  So when I got started,
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  going back.
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  So one of my coworkers, found out she had cancer,
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  and then she's fine now,
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  but our workplace, some of our coworkers,
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  we all got together, we started donating blood.
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  And that's how I got started, so.
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  And for me, I continue doing that because you never know.
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  Like, I might need that blood one day
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  or someone like my family or my friends,
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  so I would rather donate now.
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  So when something happens, I'll know
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  I did what I could do to make sure it's there for whoever needs it.
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  That's what I do.
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  How many times have you done it? Oh.
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  I looked it up a few months ago.
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  Yeah.
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  Over 50, over 50.
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  Okay. You're in over 50 clubs? Yeah.
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  And so what are some ways that people can help
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  if they're unable to donate blood?
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  That's another great question.
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  So I work with people that set up blood drives like yourself,
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  but they cannot donate blood, which is the interesting thing.
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  But what you can do
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  if you can't donate is you can get other people to donate blood.
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  And if you're really good at that, you can start your own blood drive too.
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  You know,
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  if you're good at getting like ten, 20, 30, 40 people
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  to come to a blood drive, maybe you should have your own blood drive, you know?
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  But getting the word out,
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  educating the need and getting people to come out to donate
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  and working those listening.
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  Learn more about blood donation and maybe possibly finding a drive near them.
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  Or like you said, even if they're curious about starting their own blood.
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  Drive mobile site.
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  Have the blood, you know, blood mobile come to them.
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  How can they find more information?
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  They can go to our website bbh.org.
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  And last question from me there.
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  But So the job that you do now, you know, like you said, if you're good
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  at getting people to donate blood.
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  But I know there's some,
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  especially in the summertime, there's drives where it's just really hard
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  that I call to action. It just isn't working.
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  It's like, you know, we know we need blood,
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  but it's hard to get folks to donate.
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  And then there's a serious aspect
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  if we don't get the blood we need, there is there's a risk to the public.
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  Yeah. And so for you personally, how do you how do you find balance?
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  How do you, you know, do you you saying you you you have a glass of wine.
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  Sometimes it's a puppy.
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  What do you. Yeah, I have a little puppy at home.
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  He keeps me company.
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  You know, he keeps me sane.
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  Yeah.
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  Right now it's just me and the dog.
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  Yeah, Well, Derek, is there anything that we missed?
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  Let me see.
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  Not that I can think of off the top of my head.
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  Just that the need for blood is daily, like.
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  I mean, the hospital is open daily.
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  There's people in the hospital daily, so the need is daily.
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  And if people, I think the average person donates like, 2 or 3 times a year,
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  you know, if you could donate like one time or more than that,
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  you know, imagine how much better off we would be with the blood supply.
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  And this is a great way to help out the community, too.
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  If you're not able to
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  help people in need, like financially, you know, we all have blood, right?
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  If you're eligible to donate,
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  try it once and then, who knows,
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  you might end up donating ten, 20, 30 years.
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  Even if you do it once a year.
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  That's, you know, so many more blood donations we would have had or even,
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  you know, bring a friend every now and then who hasn't done it before.
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  They end up donating
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  for how many years, however many times per year, you know,
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  that's that many more blood donations we got.
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  Yeah.
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  Well, Derek, thank you for your time.
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  Thanks, Brandy.
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  And next week, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
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  Believe it or not, lights will be going up and preparations made here at Honolulu
• 13:34
  Hall as we get ready to deck the halls ahead of this year's Honolulu City Lights.
• 13:39
  We'll sit down with the City Lights coordinators on what to expect this year
• 13:43
  here on the civic grounds.
• 13:45
  That's next week right here on the One Oahu Podcast.
• 13:47
  Mahalo for listening. And until next time. Aloha.