Photo By Spc. Matthew Diaz | A fully stocked shelf of type O blood at the Kandahar Airfield NATO Role 3...... read more read more
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- What defines a hero of the battlefield? Is it a soldier on the frontlines or an engineer clearing a route?
Heroes come in all forms and a small group of airmen are making their own definition at the Kandahar Airfield NATO Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit.
The aphaeresis center on KAF is responsible for the collection of platelets and other blood products for Regional Command South. While blood and plasma are flown in from the United States, platelets have a shelf life of only five days.
“With normal blood donations, once we take your blood you’re done for two months due to the amount of blood we take out of you,” said Air Force Capt. Aaron Lambert, chief of aphaeresis with the 75th Medical Group out of Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
The Chicago native oversees the operation of platelet donation. With such a short shelf life on platelets, he said frequent donors are required.
“There is no time to collect the platelets at home station and ship them here,” Lambert said. “The U.S. has decided to bring platelet centers over here and we supply for all the south of Afghanistan.”
The donation process is a simple one –the first step is for potential donors to get a prescreening at the Role 3. Prescreening consists of filling out a questionnaire and giving a blood sample to be sent back to the U.S. Once the sample is tested, donors will be notified if they have been approved, and then a donation appointment can be scheduled.
Donors can give platelets about once a week due to the technology used to collect the product. Blood is drawn from the donor and platelets are then separated. Once separation is complete, blood is returned to the donor, leaving no feeling of weakness and allowing for more frequent visits.
“Once they make their appointment and come in, we do all the paperwork over again, just to be sure we’re getting healthy product from them,” Lambert said. “We hook them up to one of the machines and some people read or watch TV.”
The entire donation process takes about two hours, during which snacks, drinks and entertainment are provided. Some service members use the donation process as an escape from a chaotic workweek.
“These people know that they are doing something good for our soldiers,” Lambert said. “The surgeon general of the Air Force called us and the people who work here, the heroes off the battlefield.”
Recently, a perfect storm of bad timing and bad luck hit RC-South. It was the end of the blood cycle – the timeframe in which blood and other blood products can be used before more arrives – and multiple casualties arrived at the Role 3, all with grievous injuries.
“The way that it should work is that blood comes from donors in the states to Qatar. From Qatar it’s then distributed through Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Lambert. “With the multiple traumas, they required a lot of blood product. We started the day with plenty of product, they just happened to go through all the product.”
The patients were going through blood at an alarming rate and soon the hospital’s stock dwindled. Then the aphaeresis center sprang into action.
“There are basically two things we can do when we get low. We can call other FOBs to request more (blood),” Lambert said. “The other thing is to activate what is called the ‘walking blood bank’.”
A mass e-mail was sent out seeking donors with type O blood who have already been prescreened. The response was overwhelming. The airmen were drawing blood for five hours straight before the need was finally met.
“We drew about six times what they normally have in the past,” Lambert added.
The walking blood bank was a huge success in the end. All patients requiring blood products were stabilized and flown out of theatre for ongoing treatment.
“We were never at a stoppage, we never did not have the ability to get product,” Lambert said.
The walking blood bank is a big help in saving lives, but it doesn’t work without donors. And what do donors get out of the deal? For most it brings a sense of pride.
“It’s an amazing feeling just knowing that I had a huge part in someone’s recovery,” said U.S. Navy Seaman Raven Crook, a hospitalman assigned to the Role 3.. “This is my second time being a walking donor.”
As long as the aphaeresis team is working hard at the Role 3, no service member will have to worry about lacking life saving blood products should the worst happen to them on the battlefield. But everyone needs to do his or her part. And how do you help?
“Come out and donate,” Lambert said with a smile.
| Date Taken: | 06.21.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.21.2011 08:58 |
| Story ID: | 72476 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 758 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Liquid Life, by SPC Matthew Diaz, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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