Blood banks in veterinary medicine

Jessie Brown, LVT, serves as the Blood Bank Director at Veterinary Emergency Group. She has over 19 years in specialty and emergency medicine, experience in management and operational roles, and developed and ran a regional veterinary blood bank. In her previous position at BodeVet, Brown established a comprehensive donor colony, performed FDA level advanced transfusion medicine including but not limited to apheresis procedures and held training boot camps to teach other veterinary professionals about establishing and maintaining their own in-house blood banks. Brown’s experience in the profession, her deep understanding of the critical need for blood and blood products in veterinary practice, commitment to excellence, and passion for advancing the veterinary profession makes her an asset to VEG, veterinary blood banking and the profession as a whole. Her goal is to remove supply driven transfusion decisions for our patients and allow veterinary professionals the opportunity to treat based off of what is best for their patients.

During her downtime, she finds joy in hiking with her husband and dogs - bonus points if it is in the Pacific Northwest, and playing with her two cats. Brown’s motto is: Blood is life so pass it on!

Ken Yagi, MS, RVT, VTS (ECC), (SAIM)  has dedicated his career to reimagining veterinary nursing for 24 years. He is currently the Chief Veterinary Nursing Officer for Veterinary Emergency Group, and the Program Director for the RECOVER Initiative.  

Over the years, Yagi has received many accolades, including the Veterinary Technician of the Year award by NAVTA and the AVECCTN Specialty Technician of the Year award. Ken co-edited the Veterinary Technician and Nurse’s Daily Reference Guide for Canine and Feline, and the Manual of Veterinary Transfusion Medicine and Blood Banking, and publishes articles and presents internationally on topics in ECC, transfusion medicine, and the veterinary nursing profession.  

Yagi passionately works to bring further recognition of the vital role of the veterinary nurses and technicians through work with industry leading organizations. He is also an advocate for the Open Hospital Concept, encouraging veterinary practices to invite the pet owners to “the back” as a part of the team.