Blood drive coming May 15-16

  • Published
  • By Lori A. Kuczmanski
  • William Beaumont Army Medical Center
KIRTLAND AFB, N.M. --  The next Armed Services Blood Program drive at Kirtland Air Force Base will be at the base theater May 15-16. The event will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. the first day and from noon to 6 p.m. the second day.

Specialists from the William Beaumont Army Medical Center at Fort Bliss, Texas, one of 22 military collection sites, travel to Kirtland AFB to conduct the blood drives here.

ASBP is the official military blood program of the United States. It is a tri-service organization, with the Army, Air Force and Navy collecting blood products for the military. All blood collected stays within the military community and VA hospitals, where it is available for service members, their families and retirees. For more information on ASBP, go to www.militaryblood.dod.mil.

Donated blood is sent overseas for wounded warriors, arriving in-theater within 7-10 days of collection. Because blood has a shelf life of just 42 days, it is imperative to continually have blood drives that will generate a fresh supply.

The ASBP relies on healthy service members, families and DOD civilian donors to keep its blood supply fresh and safe. If ASBP does not have donated blood in stock, the program must buy it from an approved outside agency for approximately $250 a pint.

Program officials ensure the safest blood products are available for injured service members at all times. Donor eligibility requirements are stricter than for other blood collection agencies, to protect service members with an already low immune system from further risk of receiving unsafe blood.

Projected dates of future ASBP blood drives at Kirtland AFB are Aug. 14-15 and Dec. 11-12.

For more information on the ASBP drives at Kirtland AFB, contact Sue Pearson at susan.pearson@kirtland.af.mil or 846-3705.