| Armed Services Blood Program Newsletter |
June 14, 2011 | |
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From the Desk of:
COL Francisco Rentas, Director, ASBPO | |
| As we prepare ourselves for a busy summer, the time when donations often decrease, the Armed Services Blood Program invites you to "Join Us" and give blood, through our new summer campaign. As always, it is thanks to our donors, volunteers and staff who ultimately ensure that injured and ill service members, veterans and their families continue to receive the life-saving blood they need.
Today, the Armed Services Blood Program--along with our fellow blood collection community members--celebrates World Blood Donor Day. To honor those who are the core of our program, the donors, and in honor of all who make the sacred mission of blood collection a part of their daily lives, we thank you!
In addition, we are also proud to have designed the NATO Medical Blood Advisory Team logo. Read up on the blood advisory team logo and check out our new summer campaign in this addition of the ASBP Focal Point.
Best wishes for a safe and lovely summer season.
Warm regards,
COL Francisco Rentas |
Before Going Away, Give Blood Today! Summer has finally arrived, and the Armed Services Blood Program wants to remind you that we still need you! Before leaving for vacation with family and friends, stop by the blood donor center nearest you and give blood. During the hot summer months, it is common for blood donations to decrease. And while many of our donors look forward to well deserved fun and relaxation, the need for blood continues. "Your donation makes a very real difference to those who are deployed, ill or injured," said Army Col. Francisco Rentas, director of the Armed Services Blood Program. "Just one hour of your time can ensure that we continually care for the members of the military community in need of blood." Join us this summer. Give blood today! Read the entire article on the ASBP website. | |
NATO Medical Blood Advisory Team Logo Unveiled
The Armed Services Blood Program was honored recently to design the NATO Medical Blood Advisory Team logo. Several concepts were submitted to the committee for review with the final choice by member nations, pictured here. This logo will henceforth be used on all official business by the NATO Medical Blood Advisory Team. In addition, the terms of reference and program of work that will guide this team were drafted and submitted to all team members for review and approval. | |
BRAC Update: New Blood Donor Center Coming to Post
 Moving the U.S. Armor School from Fort Knox, Ky., to Fort Benning has increased the need to expand its blood donor center.
The Fort Benning Blood Donor Center has operated out of a temporary building on Sand Hill since February 2008. As part of the Armed Services Blood Program, the center will boost processing of blood products as 7,500 additional soldiers in Armor School move on Sept. 15, [2011]. "They need another, larger facility so they can process more blood," said Terry Beckwith, a public affairs spokeswoman for Martin Army Community Hospital. "All the blood products processed there go down range to the war zones." At 10 a.m. Tuesday, [May 24, 2011], the Armed Services Blood Program and the Maneuver Center of Excellence break ground on a 19,436-square-foot building at the corner of 2nd Infantry Division and Moye roads. The facility will be more than three times larger than the current location, serving service members, their families and Department of Defense civilians. The new donor center will allow the collection, processing, storage and distribution of more than 25,000 blood products yearly. Products will be used for overseas contingency operations, military treatment facilities and Department of Defense beneficiaries. "This new facility is a direct reflection of the dedication and commitment of Fort Benning, the Maneuver Center of Excellence, Martin Army Community Hospital and the Armed Services Blood Program to provide blood products to our warriors and family members, both locally and worldwide," said Maj. Matthew Swingholm, director of the donor center on post. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will oversee the $7.8 million construction by IAP-Leopardo of Columbus, Ohio. When completed in May 2012, the center will be the flagship for the Army's blood program and save the government money. "This is going to draw enough blood in the first year to supply blood components to over 35,000 soldiers and their families," Beckwith said. "We do periodic blood drives on post. Doing this ourselves, we save money because we don't have to buy blood. We draw from our own source." This story was originally published at Ledger-Examiner.com in the "News" section on May 23, 2011. Read the original article here. Photo: An artist rendering of the $7.8 million Fort Benning Blood Donor Center. It will be built at the corner of 2nd Infantry Division and Moye roads. | |
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No Uniform Required
The ASBP Focal Point civilian hero of the month!
 According to Brian Richter, an apheresis technician at the Naval Medical Center San Diego Blood Donor Center, Calif., donors are like family. And since they are family, Richter has no qualms about making a few sacrifices to make them comfortable. One way to make sure the donors are comfortable--using bags of recycled bottles and cans to buy a variety of DVD movies for platelet donors to enjoy during their donation.
Collecting bottles and cans might sound like an easy task; but Richter lives in Vista, Calif., some 45 miles away from the Naval Medical Center, making the seemingly easy task just a little more difficult. Each week, Richter lugs as many as four bags filled with recycled items up a hill from the donor center to a nearby bus stop, boards a bus to the local commuter train station, and then catches a train home. When he has enough saved up, he sets out to buy the movies.
Read the entire article on the ASBP website.
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Photo: Brian Richter, apheresis technician at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, Calif., goes the extra mile to ensure that platelet donors are comfortable by collecting recycled bottles and cans from the donor center to buy movies for donors to watch during their donation.
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Picture This!
The ASBP Focal Point picture of the month
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 What's more fun than spending a Saturday off running an obstacle course through the Georgia woods, while getting covered in mud and sprayed with a fire hose? Nothing!-at least that is according to some members of the Kendrick Memorial Blood Center at Fort Gordon, Ga. Which is why, on May 14, 2011, two teams of four military and civilian donor center participants each, put their game faces on and got dirty with over 1,300 other adventurers at the fourth annual Fort Gordon Marine Mud Challenge.
Started in 2008, Fort Gordon's Marine Mud Challenge is the area's only event of its kind. It promises grueling obstacles, lots of running, tough uphill climbs and half a dozen hazards containing mud of every consistency as the only respite from the heat; yet each year, hundreds of people gleefully volunteer for the blood, sweat, and mud involved in the challenge.
Read the entire article on the ASBP website.
Photo: Members of the "Blood and Chuck" team, (from left to right) Staff Sgt. David Kolodziejczak, Staff Sgt. Eric Longacre, Erin Hawkins, and Elmer Angeles, get covered in mud while participating in the 2011 Fort Gordon Marine Mud Challenge.
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A Life-Saving Duo
Capt. Brendan Frost has been donating blood since he was in high school and he's starting his daughter off the same way. The duo recently stopped by the Lackland Air Force Base Blood Donor Center, Texas, to donate together, both ready to save lives. Frost started donating plasma in 2007 at Lackland, and has been donating ever since. He is ready to do whatever it takes to save a life (he has also been a bone marrow donor twice), and his daughter is ready and eager to follow in his footsteps.
Frost has been in the Coast Guard for 25 years, and currently serves as the Coast Guard liaison to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. He is one of six AB CMV negative donors at the blood donor center, and is motivating his daughter to carry on this life-saving family tradition. But it's been a relatively easy sell.
Read the entire article on the ASBP website.
Photo: Capt. Brendon Frost stands next to his 17 year-old-daughter, Molly, after she completed a plasma donation at the Lackland Air Force Base Blood Donor Center. Frost, who had just completed a donation of his own, has been donating since 2007 with the Armed Services Blood Program; his daughter is eagerly following in his footsteps.
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