Blood drives benefit Tinker, community

Published Sept. 30, 2010
By John Stuart
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BSE, Okla. -- Master Sgt. Carol Gimenez now gets to promote the organization that kept her alive. Nine years ago, two units of blood saved her life. Receiving the vital transfusion after giving birth to her son, Sergeant Gimenez further learned a vivid lesson.

"I can speak from personal experience," Sergeant Gimenez said. "I'm thankful that someone took the time to donate what I needed. If I hadn't gotten the units I wouldn't be here right now."

Now, as Sergeant Gimenez calls the 72nd Medical Group lab her professional home, she has the opportunity to encourage others to do the thing that saved her life.

As a Tinker employee, the reasons for donating blood are many, Sergeant Gimenez said.

In the past 12 months, the Oklahoma Blood Institute has collected an average of about 180 units of blood per month in drives across the base. OBI has partnered with Tinker since 1977. It is one of many blood collecting agencies in Oklahoma. In that year, base personnel donated 260 units. In 2009, Tinker personnel donated 1,648 units.

While many understand the benefits of donating, not all are aware that the donations, for the most part, stay local, Sergeant Gimenez said.

If an Airman or civilian at Tinker should need a transfusion at an area hospital, that blood came from an OBI donor. Since OBI conducts three to five blood drives at Tinker per month, those donations are helping local people, Sergeant Gimenez said.

Childbirth is a common cause for blood transfusions, but individuals with severe injuries -- who can sometimes require tens of units of blood -- are also a typical recipient of blood donations, said Capt. Melissa Casapao, chief of laboratory services for the Med Group.

Devin Hodge stands up from his chair and steadies himself. He's just donated a unit of blood during a recent drive, filling the container in only three minutes. Mr. Hodge's reason for donating is simple. He started his philanthropic habit in high school as a leader in his JROTC class. Following the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building, Mr. Hodge answered the charge given to him by his JROTC commander.

"Our major who was over the JROTC really stressed the importance of giving at that time," Mr. Hodge said.

Mr. Hodge is now close to three gallons of total donations, faithfully accrued over the years. What started as means to help Oklahomans in need remains his motivation today.

"My aunt who was raising me at the time had just retired three weeks before (the bombing) and she would've been right next to (the federal) building," Mr. Hodge explained. "I just envisioned something happening to her and if she needed blood, I would give it."

For Andrew Arnett, it was the sobering images of Sept. 11, 2001, that made him a regular donor. He also donated blood for victims in the federal building bombing, but after 9/11 now donates every 56 days -- the minimum time needed to recoup.

"I was in Oklahoma on 9/11 and I immediately connected it (to the federal building bombing). That was my first donation in Oklahoma and since then and I've been donating frequently every time I can," Mr. Arnett said, who's donated nearly two gallons of blood.

The blood donations garnered on base also help veterans in need. Tinker has an agreement with OBI that requires one of every five units collected on base to help patients in the VA Medical Center in Oklahoma City. Additionally, Tinker's agreement with OBI allots them a reserve of 100 units, to be used in an emergency.

But the need for blood donations remains high. And with the high ops tempo among military personnel on base, the pool of eligible donors is smaller. Airmen who have deployed typically have to wait a year before being able to donate again, as do individuals who receive tattoos at certain places, Captain Casapao explained. The OBI keeps an online record of tattoo artists in select states. If individuals receive a tattoo from an approved tattoo artist, the yearlong wait isn't necessary.

There's no question it saves lives. The approximately 400 milliliters (almost one pint) of blood donated at a time can help up to three people. It's a need that's not going away.

"That's the bottom line, it saves lives," Captain Casapao said.

For information about organizing a blood drive at Tinker, contact Suzanne Bourgeois at sbourgeois@obi.org.