Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Cosmo Walrath | 200214-N-DC385-1118 SAN DIEGO (Feb. 14, 2020) Hospitalman Jacob Farley, from Yucaipa,...... read more read more
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SAN DIEGO – Sailors assigned to the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard participated in a Valentine’s Day blood drive hosted by the Armed Services Blood Program.
The blood drive held a dual purpose of donations to military medical installations as well as screening Bonhomme Richard Sailors to be on the ship’s walking blood bank roster.
“This blood drive has two purposes,” said Doreen Rekoski, a blood donor recruiter and public affairs specialist for the Armed Services Blood Program. “One is to collect blood for our military: for people deployed overseas and troops in the field as well as all other kinds of patients at military hospitals. The second reason is to help the ship build a walking blood bank roster. If something happens when your ship is underway and there’s a patient who needs a massive amount of blood the command will know from this drive whose blood has been tested and is safe to transfuse. If they need extra blood they can collect it right there safely. There are a lot of tests to make sure blood is safe so it’s very important to test it now before you go underway and have it at the ready.”
Sailors from Bonhomme Richard interviewed and screened with medical professionals from Naval Medical Center San Diego before donating blood.
“I try to donate blood whenever I can,” said Airman Eric Metzler, from Sacramento, Calif. “I had a cousin who had leukemia so I try and donate whenever I get the chance. Donating is nothing scary, I just sit down for five minutes and then I go about the rest of my day. Plus, you get a free cookie.”
“Giving blood really does save lives,” said Rekoski. “There’s no substitute for human blood. It’s not the blood that you collect after a tragedy that matters; it’s what you have on the shelf. Each donation can help save three lives and what better Valentine can you give a human being than the gift of life.”
Bonhomme Richard is in its homeport of San Diego.
For more information about Bonhomme Richard, visit our Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/ussbhr and on Twitter at httpa://twitter.com/LHD6BHR
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| Date Taken: | 02.14.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 02.28.2020 11:08 |
| Story ID: | 363635 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 29 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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