Photo By Staff Sgt. Nicole Wright | U.S. Air National Guardsmen from the 146th Airlift Wing donate blood outside the...... read more read more
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CHANNEL ISLANDS AIR NATIONAL GUARD STATION, Port Hueneme, Calif. –
Story by: Staff Sgt. Nicole Wright
The feeling of love and generosity during the holiday season was alive and well as airmen gathered in front of a Vitalant blood drive trailer parked in front of the Medical building as they donated blood on their way to lunch, Dec. 15, 2019.
According to Jeen Rah, R.N., Donor Care Specialist with Vitalant, donating blood is critical to saving lives as blood only has a three-month lifespan. Since blood is kept in a blood bank for no more than 42 days to ensure each cycle of cells is fresh, blood donations are always in demand.
U.S. Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Steve Gretchko from the 146th Communications Squadron, is no stranger to the blood bank. Before returning from deployment recently, he donated platelets of blood five times and was recognized for his generosity.
“There any many good reasons to give blood, including personal satisfaction. Knowing your blood will help save someone’s life is a good feeling. There’s a big push for blood donations because of the recent shortage in the last few years,” said Gretchko.
Gretchko added, “It’s important to have it ready for when disaster strikes and there’s a large, immediate demand for it.”
According to the nonprofit community blood service provider Vitalant’s website, just one blood donation can save three lives, additionally citing record low blood donations for age groups under 40 compared to previous generations.
| Date Taken: | 12.14.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 12.23.2019 18:18 |
| Story ID: | 357154 |
| Location: | PORT HUENEME, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 33 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Giving the gift of life: California Air National Guard members donate urgently needed blood, by SSgt Nicole Wright, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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