Organizers hope to see 100 donors at blood drive

  • Published
  • By Technical Sgt. Joe Davidson
  • 452 AMW Public Affairs
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  The Team March organizers of an Armed Services Blood Program, ASBP, blood drive encourage everyone to have a good time at this year's Military Appreciation Day picnic. But they also encourage picnic attendees to consider donating a pint of blood during the drive that will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the day of the picnic at the Hap Arnold House.

"When the DOD needs blood for the warrior at a military treatment facility, we supply the blood," said Maj. Neal Ridge, a flight surgeon with the 336th Air Refueling Squadron Medical Element. "We wear the uniform, we are the walking blood bank. When supplies of blood get low at each treatment facility, the DOD has to purchase that blood from the civilian sector, the Red Cross and other entities."

Major Ridge, who hopes to have 100 people will volunteer to donate blood, said ASBP will arrive ready to handle up to 150 donors. During last year's base blood drive in September, the goal was 60 donors, which was exceeded by 26. Major Ridge hopes this year's drive will exceed the goal, as well.

Blood donations go to support the men and women wearing the uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan and other locations around the world, said Major Ridge.

As a flight surgeon, he knows firsthand how vital blood can be when treating wounded servicemembers in the field.

"You can only do so much with giving [patients] IV fluids," Major Ridge said. "At some point the body needs blood. Blood carries the oxygen to the tissues."

Major Ridge recalls his deployment to Balad, Iraq, in 2004 where a patient lost two legs and one arm in a mortar attack. After four hours of surgery, the patent was flown to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and was at Walter Reed Army Medical Center within 36  hours of the attack.

"Had there been no blood to transfuse him with, I don't know if he would have continued to live," Major Ridge said.

Reserve and active duty servicemembers, military retirees, family members, DOD civilians and federal employees of tenant agencies at March are eligible to donate, as  long as they possess a valid military ID card. Men and women who deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan are not eligible to donate until they have been back in the United States for 12 months. Those who have received a tattoo may also be deferred from donating for twelve months, depending on the state where they received the tattoo.