Welcome to the “Meet the CSTM Committee” blog series! Over the coming months the various CSTM committees will be spotlighted along with some insider information about those involved. If you are interested in joining a committee, we invite members to complete and submit a CSTM Volunteer Application form – available from the members section of the webpage or by emailing
[email protected]
Authors: Crystal Brunk, and Danielle Watson-Kenny
CSTM’s Standards Committee
Founded by the
Canadian Association of Immunohematologists (
CAIH), the first Version of the “Standards” came out in 1979, 45 years ago what a milestone! Now going into Version 6 the
CSTM Standards for Hospital Transfusion Services are meant to serve as a tool for the development of policies, processes and procedures to support safe transfusion practice in hospitals and assist in meeting accreditation requirements in some jurisdictions. This bilingual document is compliant with the
CAN/CSA-Z902-20, National Standard of Canada, Blood and blood components and the Health Canada Blood Regulations.
The Standards committee is comprised of 10-12 dedicated members of the CSTM community who have a variety of backgrounds including Transfusion Safety Officers, Medical Laboratory Technologists, Quality Assurance / Quality Systems specialists, Physicians, and Registered Nurses to name a few. The committee also seeks to have bilingual representation and individuals from both Community and Rural Transfusion Services as well as Large Academic Centers.
In addition to regularly reviewing and maintaining the Standards, the Standards Committee also develops the much-loved guidance statements and responds to all the queries received via the “ask the Standards Committee” platform.
Meet the Current Chair: Danielle Watson-Kinney
Having been involved with the Standards Committee since 2014 and currently holding the role of Chairperson Danielle is the hub of the “standards wheel”. Trained as a Medical Laboratory Technologist, Danielle leaned into Transfusion Medicine early in her career and through her experiences as Charge Technologist she quickly developed eyes for Quality Assurance. With her knowledge of transfusion medicine, standards, and quality Danielle has been an ideal fit on the Standards Committee first as a member and now as chair where she not only ensures deliverables from the committee but mentors new members instilling in them a passion for standards.
Do you have a question for the Standards Committee?
Questions related to the Standards can be asked directly to the committee, head over to the resources section of the CSTM webpage
here to access the easy to use “ask the Standards Committee” platform.