Greetings! Welcome to a special holiday edition of the Focal Point. We had a great year here at the Armed Services Blood Program, and I would like to personally thank all the donors, volunteers, supporters and staff members who have made it possible for us to save lives.

 

First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to Maj. Gen. Vu Quoc Binh, director general of the Vietnamese Military Medical Department and members of the Vietnamese Blood Safety team, for traveling to Bethesda, Md., to visit the ASBBC and transfusion facilities at NIH. It was a pleasure to accompany them during their visit and I am confident that their continuing partnership with the ASBP will be valuable for both programs.

 

I would also like to congratulate both the Army and the Navy for their outstanding efforts during this year's Army-Navy Blood Donor Challenge. This year, more than 1,000 units of blood were collected in the Washington metro area. For your dedication to the ASBP -- no matter what service you represented during the challenge -- I want to say thank you. Elsewhere in this issue, we thank donors who "gave to the red, white and blue," meet Dolores Fonte, an amazing donor and supporter of the ASBP at the Camp Lejeune Blood Donor Center, and find out what the Fort Leonard Wood and Fort Gordon blood donor centers are up to for the holidays.

 

Finally, I encourage everyone to remember it is common for blood donations to decrease during the winter months as many of the ASBP's usual donors are on leave for the holidays. However, the need for blood does not cease.  As you celebrate this holiday season with family and friends, remember to reflect on our service members in harm's way, our patients undergoing critical surgical operations in military hospitals around the globe, and those afflicted by new and chronic disease requiring blood and blood product support. The holiday season truly is a time for giving to the red, white and blue.

 

Happy holidays!  

 

Capt. Roland Fahie

January is National Blood Donor Month and this year, the ASBP wants to thank you for taking the time to give to the red, white and blue. Learn more. 

It was a close call in the 2014 Army-Navy Blood Donor Challenge this year. With more than 1,000 units of blood collected for the ASBP, many lives were saved, but only one service could win. Find out who took home the trophy.

Please join us in welcoming our new marketing specialist, Mr. Jesus "Jesse" Illineo Diaz, to the ASBP team! Since 1994, Mr. Diaz worked for the Air Force in the MWRS/MWR/Services and the Force Support Squadron in many capacities. During his time with the Air Force, Mr. Diaz was a marketing assistant, director of marketing, club caterer, Officers' Club manager, community services flight chief, programs specialist and, most recently, a contracting officer representative/ contract performance evaluator before transitioning to the Army side of the house.

 

After graduating in 1994 with a degree in Ad Media and Graphic Design from The Art Institute of Dallas, Mr. Diaz owned a successful screen printing and uniform company in Del Rio, Texas, before moving to Aurora, Colo., in 2005.

 

Since 1994, Mr. Diaz continues to work as a volunteer for many organizations; and to this day, continues to donate his time to the underprivileged and is the chief of marketing for Mo's Heroes -- a 501C non-profit organization whose sole mission is to help homeless veteran's get out of the street and reintegrate them into society.

 

He counts a love of the arts, writing, advertising, social media, design and grilling among his myriad of interests.

As an O-negative donor, Dolores Fonte knows just how important her blood donation can be for ill or injured service members worldwide. So, she is an active supporter of the Camp Lejeune Blood Donor Center's O-Negative Thursdays campaign. Learn more.

               

It's the most wonderful time of the year at the Fort Leonard Wood Blood Donor Center! Holiday lights are shining, trimmed trees are glowing and children of all ages watch anxiously for the jolly old man in red. But staff members at the donor center are reminding everyone that the need for blood does not stop just because the holidays are here.  

Learn more.

 

Maj. Gen. Vu Quoc Binh, director general of the Vietnamese Military Medical Department, and members of the Vietnamese Blood Safety team and support staff visited the Armed Services Blood Bank Center in Bethesda, Md., Dec. 3-4. Navy Capt. Roland Fahie, ASBP director, accompanied Binh and his staff as they toured the blood donor center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and the blood bank and transfusion services at the National Institute of Health.  See more photos.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved the Intercept Blood System for plasma, the first pathogen reduction system for use by blood establishments in the preparation of plasma in order to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections. Learn more.