Background There are no currently agreed upon international standards for reporting of pediatric deceased organ donation activity. This leads to difficulty in comparisons between jurisdictions for both researchers and policy stakeholders. The goal of this project was to develop and test a standardized registry for pediatric deceased donation activity. Methods Four countries (Canada, Spain, USA, and the UK) with geographical and practice diversity were approached to participate. Iterative exchanges were used to create data fields and definitions that were acceptable to all participants. Data from 2011 to 2015 (inclusive) were requested from national health databases and analyzed on a secure, web‐based survey platform. Results Data were obtained from three of the four countries (Canada unable to provide). Total pediatric donation rates were stable over the 5‐year period, but with variation between countries. pDCD rates were the most variable, representing 32.2% of total pediatric donation in the UK, 14.4% in the United States, and 2.6% in Spain during the studied period. Most organs from pediatric donors were allocated to adult recipients, though the rates of allocation of pediatric kidneys to pediatric recipients ranged from 7% in the United States to 40% in Spain. Discussion In this limited cohort of three countries, we demonstrated substantial variation in pediatric donation rates and practice. These data highlight opportunities for practice improvement such as the development of rigorous clinical practice guidelines. Future development of this registry will seek to engage more countries, and address barriers that prevented full participation of approached jurisdictions.

Background Greater use of unrelated donors to support hematopoietic cell transplantation can be hampered by unavailability of registrants when identified as potential candidates for donation. Methods Multivariate analysis was performed to identify donor factors associated with availability for verification of human leukocyte antigen typing (VT) needed before donor activation. All VT requests for registrants on the Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry between 1 January and 31 December 2018 were reviewed (n = 1358). Results Potential donors identified by transplant centers were categorized as available at the time of VT but ineligible for medical or other reasons (n = 130 and excluded from further analysis), available (n = 622) or unavailable (n = 566) due to scheduling, loss of interest, and/or inability to contact. With multivariate analysis, registrants who previously donated blood, those recruited online or from blood donation clinics, and a shorter interval between registration and VT request were significantly correlated with increased donor availability. Donor sex and geographic location, however, displayed no correlation. Conclusion Online registration and recruitment at whole blood donation centers should be enhanced to increase the availability of registrants at VT. More insight is needed to maintain registrant availability following community in‐person recruitment events, especially if the interval between registration and activation is prolonged. Recruitment of male registrants who are well informed should not negatively impact availability.

Background Diagrams which allow potential unrelated stem cell donors to visualize the stem cell collection process were hypothesized to support the recruitment and education of committed stem cell donors. Study design and methods A series of bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell collection procedure diagrams were developed, featuring young adult male donors of varied ethnic backgrounds. Post‐implementation, surveys were conducted to evaluate stakeholder perspective on the diagrams’ utility. A quality improvement project was conducted at five stem cell drives from 2017 to 2018 at which recruiters did or did not show the diagrams to potential donors. Following the drives, registrants were invited to complete a survey exploring their experience, knowledge and attitude towards donation. Results The diagrams were implemented in Canada in 07/2016. Of 293 participating registrants (24·7% non‐Caucasian males) recruited at five drives between 2017 and 2018, 76% (n = 197) were shown the diagrams. Participants who were shown the diagrams were significantly more likely to report that the recruiters appeared very knowledgeable (89% vs. 76%, P = 0·019) and to report improved self‐reported knowledge of stem cell donation (P = 0·010) compared to participants not shown the diagram. Data are also shown demonstrating that stakeholders in donor recruitment used and valued the diagrams and that use of the diagrams was associated with improved donor recruitment outcomes in Canada. Conclusion This report is the first evaluation of stem cell collection diagrams in the literature. The diagrams are relevant to donor registries, recruitment organizations and transplant centres worldwide, and their use may support efforts to educate and recruit committed, ethnically diverse donors.

Background and Objectives Understanding changes in the demand and usage of unrelated allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) donors during the COVID‐19 pandemic is needed to optimize pandemic preparedness of registry and donor collection services. The aim of this study was to understand the extent to which the pandemic has impacted the demand and usage of unrelated donors and cord blood units (CBUs) at Canadian Blood Services (CBS). Materials and Methods Data regarding stem cell donor interest and product usage for unrelated allogeneic HCT were retrieved from the database at CBS using de‐identified anonymous information. Results Unrelated donor searches for Canadian patients remained unchanged by the pandemic, reflecting stable demand. The number of unrelated allogeneic transplants performed within Canada also remained stable, while the number of cord blood transplants increased, chiefly for paediatric patients. Requests for donor verification typing, a first signal of potential interest, increased from domestic centres during the first 6 months of the pandemic and decreased from international centres, before returning to baseline levels. The proportion of transplants for Canadian patients who used stem cell products procured from Canadian donors increased between 3 and 6 months after the start of the pandemic before returning to baseline and appears to be increasing again more than 1 year after the start of the pandemic. Use of CBUs for Canadian paediatric patients increased and remains elevated. Conclusion Demand for unrelated adult HCT donors has remained stable despite the evolving pandemic with a transient and recurring increased interest and usage of domestic adult donors. Use of CBUs for paediatric patients has increased and remains elevated. Registries and donor collection centres should maintain the capacity to expand services for domestic donor collection during pandemics to offset threats to international donor usage.

On page 7, second column, last paragraph, the sentence, "M, such donor attrition has necessitated the development of search prognoses which triage patients to URD or an alternative donor source according to the FINGRUT ET AL. 7 patient's likelihood of having an available URD.42" has been updated to "Such donor attrition has necessitated the development of search prognosis scores