Issue No. 58
April 10, 2013
From the Desk of:
Col. Richard H. McBride, Director, ASBPO

This issue of Focal Point is full of inspiration. We are inspired, and we think you will be too, by the social media campaign from the Armed Services Blood Bank Center in Okinawa, Japan, that asks their donors why they donate. We introduce you to Army Staff Sgt. Garbor Nap, who inspired donors and staff members during a blood drive at Fort Gordon, Ga. In our No Uniform Required! Section, you'll meet 14-year-old Chase Seibert, who was inspired to dress up as a blood drop. We also check in with the Robertson Blood Center at Fort Hood, Texas, to see what inspires two of their top donors.  

 

We are also celebrating National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, which is April 22 to 26, by featuring Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Oscar Valdueza in our Picture This! section and by giving a behind-the-scenes look at the laboratory professionals at the Armed Services Whole Blood Processing Laboratory-East.

 

Thank you so much for your continued inspiration and dedication to our military and their families.

 

Best regards,
Col. Richard H. McBride
Why I Donate: Okinawa Launches Creative Campaign 

Staff Sgt. SnyderUsing Facebook, the U.S. Pacific Command Armed Services Blood Bank Center in Okinawa, Japan, recently launched a new creative campaign called "Why I Donate." The campaign is designed to encourage potential donors to roll up their sleeves and save lives. After completing their donation, donors (like the one pictured) fill out a whiteboard with their reasons for donating blood to the Armed Services Blood Program. These photos are then posted on the blood donor center's Facebook page for all their fans and followers to "like" and "share."

 

"I donate blood because... I CAN!!" read one donor's sign.

 

"I donate blood because... it's an easy way to help out and I know it really is needed," read another.

 

The U.S Pacific Command Armed Services Blood Bank Center is one of the more than 20 blood donor centers operated by the Armed Services Blood Program, but the only tri-service blood donor center located in the Pacific. In fact, the blood donor center is the primary source of blood products for the entire U.S. Pacific Command's eight medical treatment facilities. Blood collected at the installation directly supports active-duty service members, Department of Defense civilians and their families, and various ships and operations across the Pacific theater.

 

To find out more about the blood donor center or to see more photos, like their Facebook page at:  https://www.facebook.com/okinawablood.

 

To tell us why you donate blood at one of our other blood donor center locations, visit us at www.facebook.com/militaryblood or  www.twitter.com/militaryblood.

 

Image: Air Force Staff Sgt. Lauren M. Snyder shares her reason for donating blood to the Armed Services Blood Program. 
Soldier Inspires Donors and Staff

Nap and RichardsonIt isn't every day that a soldier survives a life-threatening illness and attends a blood drive in his honor just a few weeks later. However, Army Staff Sgt. Gabor Nap did just that March 5 during a blood drive at Fort Gordon, Ga. After fighting for his life for almost two months in the hospital, Nap, his parents and fianc�e attended a blood drive sponsored by his unit -- Company A, 447th Signal  Battalion -- where he has been assigned as a networking instructor since 2010.

According to his mother, Kathy McLendon, Nap's immune system was destroying his platelets. The disease required him to receive 40 units of packed red blood cells, 16 units of fresh frozen plasma, 88 units of apheresis platelets and 16 units of cryoprecipitate. He was eventually diagnosed with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, or TTP, and was sent to another hospital for therapeutic apheresis plasma exchange treatment.

Read more of Nap's story on the ASBP website

Image: Army Capt. Denise Richardson, commander of Company A, 447th Signal Battalion, visits with Staff Sgt. Gabor Nap after donating blood at the recent blood drive held in his honor.
No Uniform Required
The ASBP Focal Point civilian hero of the month
 

Chase SeiberAlthough he is too young to donate blood, Chase Seibert found another way to support the military blood program. On a recent, cold winter morning,  Chase came out to Fort Belvoir, Va., with his mom, dad and little sister to don the costume of the Armed Services Blood Program's mascot, "Pete the Patriotic Blood Drop" during a 5,000 meter race at the installation.

Chase helped to build the positive image of the Armed Services Blood Program in the community by posing for countless photographs with families and children, handing out flyers and greeting runners at the finish line of the race. At the end of the event, Chase shared that he enjoyed being the mascot and that "It was fun making kids smile while representing such a great cause." 
 

 

Read the entire story on the ASBP website.    

 

Image: Chase Seibert sheds the mascot costume and poses for a picture during the Fort Belvoir 5k Couples Run. Although, he's too young to donate, he wanted to support the Armed Services Blood Program in any way he could. 

Picture This!
The ASBP Focal Point picture of the month 
 
April 22-26 is National Laboratory Week -- an annual celebration of laboratory professionals who play a vital role in all aspects of health care, including military blood bankers. From blood donor recruiters, to collections, processing and testing teams at the blood donor centers, the Armed Services Blood Program is full of laboratory professionals playing a vital role in saving lives. Meet Petty Officer 2nd Class Oscar Valdueza, a laboratory technician in the Navy. Valdueza's career has taken him all around the world, such as Okinawa, Japan; Afghanistan and Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Read Valdueza's story on the ASBP website
Industry News

Boy Gets Rare Tick Infection from Blood Transfusion
A 9-year-old boy developed a rare tick-borne disease called ehrlichiosis from a blood transfusion. After tracking down the three donors who provided blood for the boy, doctors learned that one donor reported frequent tick bites, but that the donor showed no symptoms of the disease and routine lab tests of the blood appeared normal. However, further testing of the donor's blood showed that the donor had antibodies to ehrlichia. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this was the first time the disease was spread through a transfusion. (Karen Rowan, managing editor, My Health News Daily | April 3, 2013)
In This Issue
Director's Message
Why I Donate: Okinawa Launches Creative Campaign
Soldier Inspires Donors and Staff
No Uniform Required: Chase Seibert
Picture This: Petty Officer 2nd Class Oscar Valdueza
Industry News: Boy Gets Rare Tick Infection from Blood Transfusion
Behind the Scenes: ASWBPL-East Save Lives from the Lab
Checkin' in with the:
Robertson Blood Center, Fort Hood, Texas 

 

Every week, the Robertson Blood Center  ships units of donated blood to Afghanistan and to the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center to ensure those in combat operations come home to their loved ones. Some of that donated blood comes from the very people who work at Fort Hood's own hospital. Meet Staff Sgt. Patience Waycaster and Maj. Thomas Nessler III. 

Waycaster, a resident from Cedar Falls, Iowa, and mom of two makes time every 56 days to donate her pint of O-positive blood, despite her busy days as the non-commissioned officer-in-charge of hospital education at the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center.  As a combat medic since 2006, Waycaster knows the importance of her blood donation and the impact it makes on the battlefield. 

 
The top platelet donor from 2012, Nessler, donated an impressive 20 times. Originally from South Carolina, Neesler served in the Army for more than five years, was discharged honorably and then went to college.  His blood donations started in college at the United States Military Academy.  He donated there at the annual Armed Services Blood Program West Point drive and has not stopped since.  Nessler completed medical school and schedules his platelet donations around his night shifts as a physician in the emergency department at the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center.   

Find out more about Waycaster and Nessler by reading the entire story on the ASBP website.
Behind the Scenes: ASWBPL-East Saves Lives from the Lab
 
The Armed Services Blood Program is a joint operation that requires coordination among the blood programs of the three services -- Army, Navy and Air Force -- and the unified commands. In order for the program to save lives, it relies upon many components working together to provide quality blood products to service members whenever and wherever they are needed.

One of these components are the two Armed Services Whole Blood Processing Laboratories, one on both the east and west coasts of the U.S. The ASWBPLs are central repositories for both liquid and frozen blood reserves required to support contingency operations. Each one has slight variations to the larger mission of saving lives. For the ASWBPL-East, located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., each day is about saving lives in the U.S. Central Command and other mission-critical areas.

 

Technological advances in medicine have made getting fresh blood to theater easier than it was in the past. However, processing, shipping and storing large amounts of blood each day does not come without its fair share of challenges.

 

"The team at ASWBPL-East does an amazing job every day," said Air Force Lt. Col. Angela Hudson, chief of the Air Force Blood Program. "There are so many details and extensive coordination needed to ensure blood is available at the right place before it is needed. The logistical tail and its processes have been refined by this team to a point that our combatant commanders and the medical staffs far forward have so many options to save lives. Seeing a unit of blood hanging in a forward deployed trauma bay links a blood donor's selfless act with the capability of a medical team to bring a soldier, Marine, sailor or airman home to their families. All this occurs because of the dedication and mission focused blood personnel across the ASBP. The ASWBPL-East is vital to linking these and getting the lifesaving products to the patient."

 
Take a closer behind-the-scenes look at the ASWBPL-East by reading the entire story on the ASBP website.
 Featured Video 
Service before self, it's not just a motto for some. In this story Corporal Malcolm Payne introduces us to one man who has taken saving lives to a epic level. Thank you to AFN Okinawa for the wonderful video! 

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