First day of Angkor Sentinel 2015 is highlighted not by training but giving

Courtesy Photo | Soldiers from the Idaho Army National Guard and Royal Cambodian Armed Forces have their vitals taken in advance of donating blood at the Peacekeeping Operations Center, Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia, in the wake of the opening ceremony for Angkor Sentinel 2015, March 9, 2015. The blood drive enables the Cambodian health system to donate without delay, which may help save a life. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Renon, Idaho Army National Guard)  

KAMPONG SPEU PROVINCE, CAMBODIA

03.09.2015

Story by Staff Sgt. Christopher McCullough 

U.S. Army Pacific Public Affairs Office

KAMPONG SPEU PROVINCE, Cambodia – On the first day of Angkor Sentinel 2015, an annual bilateral military exercise hosted by the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and sponsored by U.S. Army Pacific, the first day of working together did not involve training but giving.

"In the United States, we take for granted the number of lives we save through blood donations," explained Master Sgt. Paul Eivins, a senior medic with the 18th Medical Command, Boise, Idaho. "This country is just now coming into a safe standard - it's clean, it's healthy and people are learning that it does save a lot of lives."

Service members from both the RCAF and U.S. Army were able to walk into their aid station here, following the exercise's opening ceremony, and determine if they were eligible to donate this life-saving gift. While not everyone was eligible - as there are a lot of criteria that are in place to protect the donor and patients - 103 persons were able to donate blood.

"I'm just happy to donate my blood for Cambodia's cause," said Master Sgt. Greg Adams, an Idaho National Guardsman, from Boise, Idaho, who donated blood. "They're short of blood, and I think that any American that's over here - if they have the opportunity to do it - that they should, so I was happy to donate."

The mobile blood bank that operated the blood drive takes all blood types. Eligible donors are able to supply up to a unit of whole blood (550 ml) once every 56 days. The blood drive enables the Cambodian health system to donate without delay, which may help save a life.

"It's important that they have a large supply of donors, because their national health program isn't as developed as the United States' ... (so) anybody that wants to be a potential donor, the Khmer need you," said Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Bray, one of the medics on hand with the IDARNG for Exercise Angkor Sentinel.

• Date Taken: 03.09.2015
• Date Posted: 03.14.2015 12:34
• Story ID: 157026
• Location: KAMPONG SPEU PROVINCE, KH
• Hometown: PHNOM PENH, KH
• Hometown: BOISE, ID, US