A SOLDIER'S PERSPECTIVE
THE WEB'S LEADING MILITARY BLOG SINCE 2004
The Military Blood Program was established as 1952 by Presidential Order as part of the National Blood Program. Today’s Armed Services Blood Program (ASBP) operates at 151 worldwide locations. These include 81 blood banks and blood donor centers, of which 36 are licensed by the Food and Drug Administration. All BDC facilities that can be licensed are licensed. The program is staffed by over 800 military and civilian personnel from the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The program was developed to provide blood products and services to our military community worldwide in peacetime and war.
BLOOD IS A CRITICAL READINESS ITEM
Since the Korean War the military blood program has provided over 1.5 million units of blood to treat sick and injured service members on the battlefield. Today the program maintains 65,000 units of frozen blood and
5000 units of liquid cells at all times in order to meet readiness requirements.
BLOOD IS NOT FREE
While blood is given freely by military donors, the processing, storage and transportation of blood carries significant costs. When the ASBP cannot collect enough blood, the military must purchase products from civilian agencies, such as the Red Cross (assuming that blood is available
for purchase). The average cost of blood from outside sources is about $250 per unit.
BLOOD IS PERISHABLE
· Platelets last only 5 days.
· Red blood cells last 35-42 days.
· Fresh frozen plasma lasts one year.
WHO NEEDS BLOOD?
· One leukemia patient uses 30 or more blood
products
· One unit of red blood cells can sustain a premature
infant for two weeks
· It takes about 75 blood products a day to sustain
the local military hospitals
BLOOD SUPPLIES MUST BE REPLENISHED CONSTANTLY
Blood must be collected constantly to replace aging contingency supplies and also to meet the peacetime needs of the military health system. Modern health care demands tremendous amounts of blood and blood products. Every year your military hospitals transfuse more than 62,000 units of red cells, more than 20,000 units of plasma and more than 30,000 units of platelets and apheresis platelets. A single trauma case can require 40 or more units of blood. A leukemia patient uses 30 or more blood products.
DONATING BLOOD
· Individuals can donate blood every 56 days
(eight weeks)
· Entire process takes approximately one hour
· Each unit donated will be tested for infectious
disease and then separated into red blood cells,
platelets, and plasma
· One donation can help up to three people!
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LL
Do they still restrict people who have served in Europe in the 80s because of Mad Cow Disease fears? I cannot donate for that reason.
Bob the Liberal
I don’t think they still do. That was quite some time ago.
I have been giving blood every 2 months for the last 26 years. And the need for blood was hammered home to me in my own family just last month.
As some of you know, my Mother has had some major health issues since August. On Christmas Day, while she was in the rehab center, something inside from the last surgery popped. She started bleeding out internally. Over the space of an hour, she lost 7 units of blood. Not only did they have to replace that, she wound up going through another 8 units while they were looking for the bleeder.
We do not have a reliable blood substitute yet. So we are still relying on blood donations. Please go and donate today, if you can. You just might save someone’s life. Like my mom.
NY-David
Prayers for your mom, Bob. My company has them onsite for donations and we get a lot of doners. Doesn’t take much and free snacks at the end!
NY-David
Bob the Liberal
Thank you.
She had to go back in for some clean up surgery from an infection, so she’s getting the shotgun treatment now. That’s the worst part of this. Not the initial problems, but the infections after treatment and/or surgery. Otherwise, she’d have been home long ago.
dawn from Houston
Yes, they still restrict folks who served in Europe in the 90′s because of the Mad Cow thing (an unfounded fear, I might add).
LL
I found this:
I lived in Germany from 1987-1993. I have been refused before. Won’t try again.
Perry Jefferies
Thanks for running this great fact sheet. Lots more info, including links to the individual donor centers are at http://www.militaryblood.dod.mil. Sadly, we still must comply with the FDA rules and defer people who spent more than six months in Europe (with the DoD) or more than five years overall. Don’t even think about England.
An additional challenge is that troops cannot donate for a year after they leave Iraq or Afghanistan. For many, they can only donate a single time before they are back on the plane over. We are really relying on families, friends or supporters, and involved leaders to insure that we have the supplies to send over. Currently, the products we collect are mostly in theater within five days after collection.
(full disclosure – I am the blood donor recruiter at Fort Hood)
Pete Margaritis
In September 2007, at the urging of The American Legion in Central Ohio and some articles from “The Columbus Dispatch,” the Dept. of Defense changed its 57-year old policy. Now civilians can give to the military in time of war, as long as a) the drive is conducted by the ASBP, the drive is on a military installation, and c) the drive is not advertised to the general public by any Federal government agency (including Dept. of Defense). So the American Legion does that for them. We promote it, coordinate it, and help in any way.
We’ve been doing this for over three years now. The blood gets collected, driven to WPAFB, processed, and flown out to theatre units. No better way for civilians to support those fighting overseas.
Pete Margaritis
American Legion
Ohio 12th District Council
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