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Armed Services Blood Program to visit Charleston

  • Published
  • By Tanya Trejo
  • 315 Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. --  Armed Services Blood Program (ASBP) visits Charleston Air Force Base, at the request of the 315th Airlift Wing in conjunction with the Health and Wellness Center's health fair being held March 7 on the Hurricane court at the base fitness center. 

The main mission of the ASBP is to provide blood products to the U.S. Armed Forces deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in support of the global war on terrorism, as well as, providing blood for military hospitals here at home. 

Armed Services Blood Program provides blood to all Combat Support Hospitals, forward surgical teams, and medics and corpsmen who all transfuse blood products on a daily basis. Another integral part of ASBP is to provide blood to military hospitals in CONUS for surgeries, accidents, cancer treatments, and other illnesses. 

ASBP is a military entity and it is limited to collecting on federal installations to include, military installations, ships, National Guard Armories, federal buildings, and ROTCs, ect. If ASBP is unable to collect enough blood to supply the military demand then it must be obtained through a civilian source for a nominal fee. 

Blood is needed every day for critically injured troops, cancer patients, premature infants, and many others. Most healthy adults can donate blood and the overall process generally takes about one hour. One pint of blood can save up to three lives. A couple restrictions for people being able to donate blood include, but are not limited to, people who are within a year of returning from Iraq or Afghanistan, or people who spent greater than six months in Europe from 1980-1996. If you have further questions you can contact Erin Hawkins at the Kendrick Memorial Blood Center in Fort Gordon, GA at (706) 787-0249.