CAMP LESTER, OKINAWA, Japan -- The men and women of the U.S. Pacific Command Armed Services Blood Bank Center are challenging service members and their family members to break a 34-gallon blood donation milestone set by retired Air Force Staff Sergeant Dennis Provencher during a blood drive here Feb. 11.
Provencher, the 2004 Guiness Book of World Records holder for most blood donated, added his own challenge, "I challenge anyone to catch up."
Whether to answer Provencher's challenge or out of kindness, blood given to the Armed Services Blood Program on Okinawa, affects operational readiness, said ASBBC staff.
The ASBBC provides blood for eight medical treatment facilities, ships, and operational units across the Pacific Theater, supporting more than 175,000 active duty service members, family members and Department of Defense civilian personnel, according to Air Force 1st Lt. Edward P. Griffin, deputy director of the ASBBC.
With every 450 milliliter donation, three lives have a better chance of being saved, said Douglas Kennedy, the blood donor recruiter at the ASBBC. It's the most humanitarian act a person can do, he added.
A donor replaces the fluid lost through the donation within hours and the red blood cells within four weeks of donating blood, according to www.bloodcenters.org, the Blood Centers of the Pacific Web site.
It can also benefit the donor. According to a new study published by the American Medical Association, giving blood every six months leads to fewer heart attacks and strokes in test participants ages 43 to 61.
"It's good to get the oil changed every now and then," advocated Provencher, who began donating blood regularly in 1957.
The ASBBC's annual goal is to collect a minimum of 3,600 units. After blood is collected, it's processed into packed red blood cells, fresh frozen plasma, platelets and cryoprecipitate at the ASBBC on Okinawa.
The ASBBC hosts four blood drives a month on military installations. Donors can also go to the ASBBC on Camp Lester on a walk-in basis Monday thru Friday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
For more information, call 643-7710.