Mountain Home Air Force Base donates blood on wounded veterans returning from operations in Afghanistan and Iraq last January 23. Mountain Home AFB was one of only two military installations to lend a hand to replenish the depleted blood supply at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C., by sending 25 units of critically needed blood through American Red Cross channels. Their assistance was prompted by a request from the Army Surgeon General’s Office January 22. The blood was sent out the following day.

“Because of the efforts you made, we were able to ship invaluable blood to Walter Reed Army Medical Center and keep them in business until their next shipment arrived,” said Jim Koseki, the 366th Medical Group laboratory services transfusion supervisor and wing blood drive chairman.

Mr. Koseki added that Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and other large donor centers could not send blood because of their monthly quota of blood due to the major national blood shipment centers.

Mountain Home AFB and the American Red Cross hold a blood drive every 56 days, which is the required recovery time between donations. The wing provided 83 units of blood during its December 2007 blood drive.