June 10, 2025 • 9 mins
Nicole Pineault has worked at RIBC for over 20 years specializing in donor recruitment. Her roles have included Marketing Assistant, Account Manager, Marrow Donor Recruiter, Recruitment Supervisor for RIBC’s National Marrow Donor Program, and Mobile Blood Drive Recruitment Manager. She was promoted to Director of Donor Resources in 2015 and became the Director of RIBC’s National Marrow Donor Program in 2018. Nicole received the ADRP Rolf Kovenetsky Recruitment Leader of the Year Award in 2019. In 2024, she was promoted to Executive Director of Blood Operations. Nicole holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations from the University of Rhode Island. A member of the ADRP Executive Committee and past participant of the Patient Services Committee of the RI Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Nicole says, “I can’t think of a better way to spend my time than helping to ensure that patients receive the life-saving blood they need when they need it. The donors, patient families, drive sponsors, and coordinators I’ve been blessed to work with over the years have enriched my life in so many ways. I’ve learned important lessons like, tell the people you love that you love them…and cherish life’s simple pleasures.”Nicole lives in North Kingstown, RI, with her husband, Lt. Col. Dennis Pineault, and their two children, Caleb and Aubrey.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
iHeartRadio Providence CEOs you should know. On this edition we
have Nicole Penall, Executive director of Blood Operations at Rhode
Island Blood Center. Nicole, thank you for joining us. How
are you.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm doing great today, Adam, thanks so much for giving
me this opportunity.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Absolutely, thank you for coming on. Tell me a little
bit about your background and how you ended up in
your role as executive director at the Rhode Island Blood Center.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, I am a University of Rhode Island graduate and
I studied public relations in English. There, had a great experience,
and then had some friends and family that worked at
the Blood Center once I graduated college and I got
sucked into this work. I just feel like it's an
absolute honor and privilege to have my everyday work be
(00:47):
something that has such an impact on the community and
the patients that are relying on the blood supply.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
And that's completely true. I mean, I think when you
look at what you guys do on a regular, ongoing basis,
regardless of what's time of the year. Sometimes you talk about,
you know, a need being bigger going into the summer,
or a need being bigger around the holidays or something
like that, But really This is an all year, three
hundred and sixty five day job.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Absolutely, we like to say that blood donation doesn't take
a holiday, it doesn't go on vacation, because there are
patients that are absolutely relying on us every single day,
and you know, we hope none of us are in
those unplanned circumstances, but those arise as well. And as
we're going into the summer months in our industry, we
(01:33):
call this trauma season, and we definitely see an increased
need atom in the number of units that we need
to be able to provide to our hospitals because that
trauma season equates to more mass transfusion protocols. So what
that means is someone is in a trauma situation, unplanned situation,
(01:56):
and they might need many blood products in order to
be stabilized, anywhere from forty five to seventy potential blood
products for one patient based on size and severity of
the incident. So that becomes a huge challenge for us
in the summer to manage that. And one of the
bigger reasons, especially in this area of the country, why
(02:19):
the summer is so challenging is because you know, we
don't have great weather year around here. So people's priorities
change once that weather gets warmer. You know, people want
to spend more time with their family, They're going to
take vacations, they're going to be taking that PTO at
a higher rate. Plus, we lose our high school and
college blood drives at them that really we rely on heavily.
(02:40):
They make up a large portion of our mobile blood
drives during the academic year, and we can't run those
colleges and high schools at the same rate, and we
don't see the same participation even if those groups are
willing to try to do something with us over the summer.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
So, really, now is an important time, not that it
is an important year round, but now it's especially an
important time for you. Tell me a little bit about
the largest blood shortages and the biggest need.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
That you have. Yeah, so we always have a need
for platelet donations and especially the core four blood types O, PAUSE, OEG, ANEG, B, NEG. Now,
all blood types are important because even if you're not
a core four and you're an apose, B, PAUSE or AB,
we need you to consider doing those platelet donations as well.
(03:30):
So right now, those that need is constant. We are
able to do those platelet donations only in our fixed
donor centers, and we have five throughout the state. We're
in win Socket, Providence, Warwick, Middletown, and Arrogancet. So really,
(03:51):
if you're living here, there should be one center that
is of a convenient location for you. And then every
day we're running between one and nine mobile blood drives
in the community. So really we're trying to make it
as easy as possible for people to come out and
support us and support the patients that we're here to serve.
The platelet donation, it requires a special device that we
(04:16):
use to separate out the platelets and then give you
back the rest of your blood components. That donation can
be a little longer in length than you can be
with us for around two hours, so it's definitely a
time commitment. But I like to tell everyone in the
busy world that we live in, it's me time. It's
a time where you get to sit there and read
(04:37):
a book, watch a movie, have some uninterrupted time by yourself.
Our staff is wonderful. They engage in with our donors,
They are there to support you throughout the way and
it's just such an impact. Those platelets are only good
for about five to seven days, and they are constantly
(04:59):
need and atom our cancer patients are the largest users
of blood components that are platelet in nature, and so
there's just a constant need for those for those products
in particular.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
For sure, what kind of restrictions are there?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Four donors, So you need to be at least seventeen
years of age or older. Sixteen year olds can donate blood,
but they need to have a parental permission in order
to do so, so they need to have assigned consent form.
You need to weigh at least one hundred and ten pounds,
and you need to feel well and healthy. So we
(05:36):
do have every donor come in, they fill out a
questionnaire and then they go through a mini physical and
at that time the answers to that questionnaire are reviewed,
and then we take blood pressure, pulse temperature, We test
your iron levels to make sure that it's safe for
you to donate and that by giving to someone else,
(05:58):
you're not then making yourself not feel well. So we
go through all of that with each and every donor.
So there might be some travel restrictions, but there are
very few medications that would prevent people from donating blood
and I always encourage people to call us or go
on the website RIBC dot org to ask those questions
(06:20):
ahead of time if they're concerned about something. But sixty
three percent approximately of the population is eligible to donate
blood and only three percent do, so there's many more
people eligible.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
That is a big gap. But if you're hearing this
right now, you know what is kind of like your pitch,
I guess to somebody that may never have donated blood.
I have in the past, haven't recently, but I have
in the past. What would be your pitch for someone
like me, I guess to come in and donate blood.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So basically, people are always surprised at how easy the
process is and it has such a big impact on
the community. And literally most of us are never going
to have an opportunity, like a first responder or a
doctor nurse to save someone's life, and this gives the
(07:10):
everyday person the opportunity to do that.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
That is an excellent pitch, So that I appreciate that.
That is excellent and that really is a good reason
to help out the community. How many blood products in
hospitals do you currently serve?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
So right now we're supplying over ninety thousand blood products
a year and servicing over fifty hospitals amongst many states,
most of that being in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
What's your current supply level as far as days months, Like,
you know, what's it kind of looking like right now?
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Right now, we are really struggling with being able to
feel comfortable with the different blood types and how many
days we have on hand, and that really does vary
day to day, but we typically have been seeing right
now and issue especially with OH negatives ongoing and then
(08:04):
with our platelets, so that has been a struggle. We
need approximately two hundred and thirty donations a day to
give people a sense of what that need is in
order to feel like we are in a good place
to respond to the unexpected circumstances that happen within our
(08:24):
community on a regular basis.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Awesome, where can people donate? Again, let's go through that
rundown of where they can go, because you know, the
great part about Rhode Island, like you said, is that
there are so many geographically you know, in a good
spot for most people that live in the state.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yeah, So the easiest thing to do is to go
onto our website, RIBC dot org, and you're able to
use a zip code locator to find the closest mobiles
and centers in your area. So the mobile locations vary
every day, and we are at businesses, we are at
(08:59):
commun unity organizations, we are at restaurants and the mall
and a variety of different places throughout the month, so
we are trying to make it as convenient as possible.
We also have five centers in our state and those
centers are located in one socket, Warwick, Providence, Middletown, and Naragainst.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
How many blood products and hospitals do you currently serve?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
So right now we're supplying over ninety thousand blood products
a year and servicing over fifty hospitals amongst many states,
most of that being in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Awesome, Well you can make a difference. All you've got
to do go to RIBC dot org. Nicopenol Executive Director
of Blood Operations at Rhode Island Blood Center. Thank you
for sharing a little bit on all of that and
being our CEO you should know.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Thanks Adam
iHeartRadio Providence CEOs you should know. On this edition we
have Nicole Penall, Executive director of Blood Operations at Rhode
Island Blood Center. Nicole, thank you for joining us. How
are you.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm doing great today, Adam, thanks so much for giving
me this opportunity.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Absolutely, thank you for coming on. Tell me a little
bit about your background and how you ended up in
your role as executive director at the Rhode Island Blood Center.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, I am a University of Rhode Island graduate and
I studied public relations in English. There, had a great experience,
and then had some friends and family that worked at
the Blood Center once I graduated college and I got
sucked into this work. I just feel like it's an
absolute honor and privilege to have my everyday work be
(00:47):
something that has such an impact on the community and
the patients that are relying on the blood supply.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
And that's completely true. I mean, I think when you
look at what you guys do on a regular, ongoing basis,
regardless of what's time of the year. Sometimes you talk about,
you know, a need being bigger going into the summer,
or a need being bigger around the holidays or something
like that, But really This is an all year, three
hundred and sixty five day job.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Absolutely, we like to say that blood donation doesn't take
a holiday, it doesn't go on vacation, because there are
patients that are absolutely relying on us every single day,
and you know, we hope none of us are in
those unplanned circumstances, but those arise as well. And as
we're going into the summer months in our industry, we
(01:33):
call this trauma season, and we definitely see an increased
need atom in the number of units that we need
to be able to provide to our hospitals because that
trauma season equates to more mass transfusion protocols. So what
that means is someone is in a trauma situation, unplanned situation,
(01:56):
and they might need many blood products in order to
be stabilized, anywhere from forty five to seventy potential blood
products for one patient based on size and severity of
the incident. So that becomes a huge challenge for us
in the summer to manage that. And one of the
bigger reasons, especially in this area of the country, why
(02:19):
the summer is so challenging is because you know, we
don't have great weather year around here. So people's priorities
change once that weather gets warmer. You know, people want
to spend more time with their family, They're going to
take vacations, they're going to be taking that PTO at
a higher rate. Plus, we lose our high school and
college blood drives at them that really we rely on heavily.
(02:40):
They make up a large portion of our mobile blood
drives during the academic year, and we can't run those
colleges and high schools at the same rate, and we
don't see the same participation even if those groups are
willing to try to do something with us over the summer.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
So, really, now is an important time, not that it
is an important year round, but now it's especially an
important time for you. Tell me a little bit about
the largest blood shortages and the biggest need.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
That you have. Yeah, so we always have a need
for platelet donations and especially the core four blood types O, PAUSE, OEG, ANEG, B, NEG. Now,
all blood types are important because even if you're not
a core four and you're an apose, B, PAUSE or AB,
we need you to consider doing those platelet donations as well.
(03:30):
So right now, those that need is constant. We are
able to do those platelet donations only in our fixed
donor centers, and we have five throughout the state. We're
in win Socket, Providence, Warwick, Middletown, and Arrogancet. So really,
(03:51):
if you're living here, there should be one center that
is of a convenient location for you. And then every
day we're running between one and nine mobile blood drives
in the community. So really we're trying to make it
as easy as possible for people to come out and
support us and support the patients that we're here to serve.
The platelet donation, it requires a special device that we
(04:16):
use to separate out the platelets and then give you
back the rest of your blood components. That donation can
be a little longer in length than you can be
with us for around two hours, so it's definitely a
time commitment. But I like to tell everyone in the
busy world that we live in, it's me time. It's
a time where you get to sit there and read
(04:37):
a book, watch a movie, have some uninterrupted time by yourself.
Our staff is wonderful. They engage in with our donors,
They are there to support you throughout the way and
it's just such an impact. Those platelets are only good
for about five to seven days, and they are constantly
(04:59):
need and atom our cancer patients are the largest users
of blood components that are platelet in nature, and so
there's just a constant need for those for those products
in particular.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
For sure, what kind of restrictions are there?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Four donors, So you need to be at least seventeen
years of age or older. Sixteen year olds can donate blood,
but they need to have a parental permission in order
to do so, so they need to have assigned consent form.
You need to weigh at least one hundred and ten pounds,
and you need to feel well and healthy. So we
(05:36):
do have every donor come in, they fill out a
questionnaire and then they go through a mini physical and
at that time the answers to that questionnaire are reviewed,
and then we take blood pressure, pulse temperature, We test
your iron levels to make sure that it's safe for
you to donate and that by giving to someone else,
(05:58):
you're not then making yourself not feel well. So we
go through all of that with each and every donor.
So there might be some travel restrictions, but there are
very few medications that would prevent people from donating blood
and I always encourage people to call us or go
on the website RIBC dot org to ask those questions
(06:20):
ahead of time if they're concerned about something. But sixty
three percent approximately of the population is eligible to donate
blood and only three percent do, so there's many more
people eligible.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
That is a big gap. But if you're hearing this
right now, you know what is kind of like your pitch,
I guess to somebody that may never have donated blood.
I have in the past, haven't recently, but I have
in the past. What would be your pitch for someone
like me, I guess to come in and donate blood.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So basically, people are always surprised at how easy the
process is and it has such a big impact on
the community. And literally most of us are never going
to have an opportunity, like a first responder or a
doctor nurse to save someone's life, and this gives the
(07:10):
everyday person the opportunity to do that.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
That is an excellent pitch, So that I appreciate that.
That is excellent and that really is a good reason
to help out the community. How many blood products in
hospitals do you currently serve?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
So right now we're supplying over ninety thousand blood products
a year and servicing over fifty hospitals amongst many states,
most of that being in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
What's your current supply level as far as days months, Like,
you know, what's it kind of looking like right now?
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Right now, we are really struggling with being able to
feel comfortable with the different blood types and how many
days we have on hand, and that really does vary
day to day, but we typically have been seeing right
now and issue especially with OH negatives ongoing and then
(08:04):
with our platelets, so that has been a struggle. We
need approximately two hundred and thirty donations a day to
give people a sense of what that need is in
order to feel like we are in a good place
to respond to the unexpected circumstances that happen within our
(08:24):
community on a regular basis.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Awesome, where can people donate? Again, let's go through that
rundown of where they can go, because you know, the
great part about Rhode Island, like you said, is that
there are so many geographically you know, in a good
spot for most people that live in the state.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yeah, So the easiest thing to do is to go
onto our website, RIBC dot org, and you're able to
use a zip code locator to find the closest mobiles
and centers in your area. So the mobile locations vary
every day, and we are at businesses, we are at
(08:59):
commun unity organizations, we are at restaurants and the mall
and a variety of different places throughout the month, so
we are trying to make it as convenient as possible.
We also have five centers in our state and those
centers are located in one socket, Warwick, Providence, Middletown, and Naragainst.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
How many blood products and hospitals do you currently serve?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
So right now we're supplying over ninety thousand blood products
a year and servicing over fifty hospitals amongst many states,
most of that being in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Awesome, Well you can make a difference. All you've got
to do go to RIBC dot org. Nicopenol Executive Director
of Blood Operations at Rhode Island Blood Center. Thank you
for sharing a little bit on all of that and
being our CEO you should know.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Thanks Adam
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