FORT BLISS, Texas - William Beaumont Army Medical Center along with the Armed Services Blood Program celebrated National Blood Donor Month by recognizing units and those in the community for contributing to lifesaving efforts by donating blood, platelet and plasma in a ceremony at the Centennial Club here Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015.
The ASBP coordinates with units throughout Fort Bliss to hold blood drives, giving Soldiers the opportunity to donate blood that is shipped overseas to help troops that may be in need. Fort Bliss supplies 20 percent of the Army's blood mission.
Individual donor recognition included those who donated at least eight times and the units were recognized for the most pints of blood throughout 2014.
The top contributor for 2014 was 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division with 718 pints, 2nd place contributor was 4th Brigade, 1st Armored Division with 409 pints and 3rd place contributor was 86th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 11th Signal Brigade with 397 pints.
Those that make the decision to donate blood have their own personal reasons as to why they do it. Guest speaker Maj. Christopher B. Cordova, orthopaedic physician assistant fellow at WBAMC, shared his story with those in attendance.
"My story began in 2009 when I was deployed to the north eastern part of Afghanistan," said Cordova.
Cordova's unit was involved in an attack that left over 40 Soldiers wounded. A wounded Soldier came into the aid station that had lost a lot of blood. Not knowing when a medical evacuation would be available, Cordova exhausted all medical protocols, but knew the Soldier needed a blood transfusion to prolong his life.
"We checked his identification tags for his blood type and myself and four other Soldiers donated blood that was directly transfused to this Soldier," said Cordova.
The average adult has about 10 pints of blood in the body and can donate one pint of blood at the time of donation. Healthy individuals can donate blood every 56 days.
"By recognizing our donors, we wanted to let them know we appreciate everything they do and hope to get their continued support," said Maj. Elaine Morrison, Chief of Blood Services at WBAMC. "Without them, we would not have been successful."
For further information on how to donate blood, contact the ASBP at 915-742-6365 or visit www.militaryblood.dod.mil/bliss.
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