TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. —
David Grant USAF Medical Center hosted Armed Services Blood Bank Center –Pacific Northwest (ASBBC-PNW) for the annual Armed Services “West Coast Blood Drive” at the Travis Fitness Center, Dec. 7, 2023.
ASBBC-PNW, located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, is one of the three Armed Services Blood Program (ASBP) donor centers on the West Coast. Their primary mission is to collect blood from volunteer donors at military installations to support blood requirements for overseas contingency operations and regional military medical treatment facilities.
“Bottom line is, the blood support is a big part of military readiness and the ASBP collections help save lives downrange and in our military MTFs,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Mary Salgado, 60th Medical Diagnostics and Therapeutics Squadron chief of transfusion services and appointed Base Blood Program Officer.
The ASBBC-PNW travels to California once or twice a year, depending on availability, to conduct an Armed Services “West Coast Blood Drive” at the Defense Language Institute at Presidio of Monterey, Travis AFB and Beale AFB.
“Since they [ASBBC-PNW] can only perform blood drives on military installations, we are the primary source for this life-saving product,” said Salgado. “With current operations and high deployment tempo, we always have teammates, brothers and sisters-in-arms downrange who are relying on this vital resource, which is why it is important for the base community to help support this effort.”
With the holidays coming up, Salgado believes the “West Coast Blood Drive” helps to alleviate the blood shortages across the military.
“The use of blood in life saving situations is the reason I donate,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Anthony Kasch, 60th Operations Group 1st Sergeant. “Whether its platelet donation, helping cancer patients, or blood needed in surgery or trauma, I am able to share the healthy life I am living to make a difference and save others.”
During the Blood Drive at Travis AFB, the team collected 48 units of blood throughout the day’s event.
For more information on how to donate, visit the ASBP home page on www.militarydonor.com.
