Balad collects first in-house plasma donation

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. LuCelia Ball
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  Donating platelets is a way of life for some Airmen and Soldiers here. Once a month, these volunteers stop by the donation center at the Air Force Theater Hospital, hop into a chair and sit for up to two hours while platelets are removed from their blood. One Airman recently became the first plasma donor in the area of responsibility.

Tech. Sgt. Darrin Sewer, the NCO in charge of the 332nd Expeditionary Communications Squadron help desk, dropped by the AFTH Apheresis Center to donate platelets in early August. While he was there, he was asked by the staff if he would be willing to donate plasma at the same time because he was a type AB plasma donor, the universal plasma type. As the universal plasma type, AB-plasma can be transfused into any recipient regardless of their blood type.

"This was my third time donating here," said the sergeant, deployed from the 1st Air and Space Command Operations Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

The sergeant often donates whole blood at home and became interested when he learned he could donate platelets here.

"I went in and filled out a questionnaire and then gave a blood sample for testing," he said. "About 10 days later, I was accepted into the donor pool."

The blood samples are sent to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, where they are screened for infectious diseases, antibodies and their blood group and type. If all checks out, the donor returns to the center, fills out another questionnaire and donates the platelets.

"Volunteers can safely donate every week, but we only use them about every other week," said Master Sgt. Les Blue, lab technician and NCOIC of the blood donor center. "But some volunteers are adamant that they want to donate every week, so we let them."

After donation, a person's body will produce more platelets.

"I agreed to donate the platelets because I understood there was a need," Sergeant Sewer said. "But I was really surprised when I learned I was going to be the first plasma donor."

The 140 units of AB plasma used monthly at the AFTH now come from donors in the United States. By building a donor pool at Balad, the hospital would have a second source for emergencies. 

"We already had an apheresis instrument that we use for platelet donation," said Maj. David Kuch, the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group blood donation center officer in charge. "Plasma collection, or plasmapheresis, can be accomplished using the same machine."

The machine is called a haemonetics machine, which pumps blood out of a person's vein and feeds it into a centrifuge bowl. The bowl separates the whole blood into red cells, platelets and plasma. The platelets are fed into bags while the red cells are fed back into the person's body. For plasma collection, saline is introduced back into the body.

"Plasma contains lots of proteins and clotting factors," Sergeant Blue said. "It provides the body its first line of defense to stop bleeding."

Plasma can be stored for one year if it is frozen within four hours of collection. It is referred to as "fresh frozen plasma."

The center has a goal of 25 units of AB plasma collection per month. They will still rely heavily on stateside supplies because only 4 percent of Balad's population has AB type plasma.

"(Donors from) the states are what (carry) us, but this will help to increase our supply in the event of a shortage," Major Kuch said.

The center staff has already checked the donor pool and identified who has AB plasma. For now, they are taking donations concurrently with platelet donations, but after the first few trial collections, they will gather several AB donors and collect the plasma on a single donor day per month.

"We just want to make sure everyone handles the process the same way before we set up the single donor day," Sergeant Blue said.

All of the plasma and platelets collected are used in the AOR.

"If someone comes in and we don't know what his blood type is, we can immediately use AB plasma," Sergeant Blue said.

Sergeant Sewer may have been the first, but he expects he won't be the last.

"I'm glad I was able to do it," he said.

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