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NEW RULE STEMS BLOOD DRIVES FOR SOLDIERS --
"The need is great and the need is now. These
people
are putting their lives on the line. Why should
the
military have to pay for blood?"
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http://www.news-record.
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070711/NEWSREC0101/70711003
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Ahearn: New rule stems blood drives for
soldiers
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing $12 billion per month, but
imagine what they cost in blood — up to 40 pints for one trauma case.
Shortages have become so chronic that the people who literally gave at
the office — U.S. soldiers in combat zones — are routinely filmed
waiting in line to donate blood, as was a Marine in Iraq in this week's
issue of Marine Corps Times.
"It's a shame he has to do that. One minute he's giving blood, the next
day he may need it," Tim Gulledge, veteran of the corps and commander of
the American Legion post in High Point, was saying this week. "This is
the most important thing we should be doing for our troops."
And up until a rule change announced July 3, local veterans
organizations were doing just that. For the past two years, they had
mobilized the Triad to donate to blood drives that go directly to
soldiers at war.
But no longer: Because of a new rule that such drives can be conducted
only on federal installations, next Tuesday's all-day VFW blood drive
for the military — this one on South Elm-Eugene — will be the last at a
veteran post.
Why, you might ask?
First, some background. The Armed Services Blood Program, which sent
teams from Fort Bragg to inspect and supervise these local drives for
the military, is set up to collect and screen blood, put it on ice and
ship it to hospitals in the war zone.
In decades past, the armed forces' blood supply came from the military
itself. But with the downsizing of the Army and the closing of bases
since the 1980s, the military has increasingly had to purchase blood
from private sources, including the American Red Cross. These sources
typically charge hospitals a processing fee of $250 for a pint of red
blood cells and $800 for platelets, according to the Armed Services
Blood Program.
That means those drives at the VFW and American Legion posts in
Greensboro, Burlington, High Point and Gibsonville have directly
benefitted wounded troops, and have saved the military money that could
be used for other things — such as body armor, say, or combat pay.
But the new rule has for now left the veterans' organizations with
nowhere to hold their military blood drives. Local federal centers such
as Greensboro's two armories and armed forces reserve center don't have
the large, air-conditioned halls required for blood drives, so there
will be no more military drives in the warm months after next Tuesday.
"It's going to shut us down for all but the winter months," said Greg
Woodard, a VFW commander in Greensboro who served in the Navy and Army.
"The need is great and the need is now. These people are putting their
lives on the line. Why should the military have to pay for blood?"
Woodard, whose July 17 blood drive at the VFW will be the last one
allowed, has frequently organized letter-writing campaigns to soldiers
deployed, and packages for troops at Christmas. But he considers
donating blood to the military the most fundamental support civilians
give.
Gulledge, who had to cancel a military blood drive set for August,
agreed. He recalled a woman who gave blood for the first time at the
American Legion post being frightened by the process.
"Just thinking about where this blood might go, it really affected her,"
said Gulledge, a 22-year Marine vet. "I said to her, 'Today, you served
your country.' "
Contact Lorraine Ahearn at 373-7334 or
lahearn@news-record.com
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Larry Scott --
