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Joint force does bloody good job

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. David Dobrydney
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  It's the source of life.

The U.S. Army 432nd Blood Service Detachment is responsible for providing blood and blood products throughout Afghanistan.

While the 432nd BSD receives blood from stateside, other products must be replenished through donations from deployed personnel.

Blood platelets, for example, are what give blood the ability to clot and stop bleeding. They are unique in that they do not have to be matched to a patient's specific blood type in order to be effective.

"There is definitely a demand in-theater," said Army Sgt. Tahera Parker, 432nd BSD laboratory technician. "Most of our traumas here ... are people who have lost a lot of blood. They don't have the ability to keep that blood from continuing to spill out."

Because they only have a shelf life of seven days, Parker added that platelets are the only product drawn here on a daily basis, with at least two donors each day.

When a donor gives platelets, their whole blood is drawn out into an apheresis machine, which separates out the platelets from the plasma red blood cells before returning the latter two substances to the donor's body.

Once the platelets are collected, they need to be checked for any possible contamination before they can be administered to a patient. That's where the 455th Expeditionary Medical Support Squadron laboratory comes in.

The lab takes a sample from the donation and runs it through a microbiological analyzer to ensure no harmful bacteria is present. Then the platelets are stored in an agitator, which keeps the donation in constant motion to prevent coagulation, until they are needed for a patient. The whole process from donation to administration can be done in as little as 24 hours.

"It's kind of gross, but cool at the same time," said Tech. Sgt. Terrence Raybon, 455th EMDSS lab technician, as he held a bag of platelets before returning it to the agitator.
The lab is also a waypoint for whole blood units provided by the 432nd BSD before they go to a patient.

"If a patient needs units of blood, our job is to cross match units and test it against the patient's blood to make sure that there's not going to be any kind of reaction," Raybon said.

Raybon said while they don't actually work on patients, he and his fellow technicians, both Army and Air Force, are proud of how their job affects the ultimate outcome.

"We're all about saving lives," Raybon said. "We don't get hands on the patient, but we get the opportunity to provide the units to make sure the patients are stable. None of this would be possible without the support [the 432nd BSD] provides."

Maj. Paul Nelson, 455th EMDSS laboratory flight commander, also spoke of the cooperation between the Army and Air Force laboratories, which keeps the emergency and operation rooms supplied with the blood products they need.

"It's a unique opportunity for all of us," Major Nelson said. "Most techs in their career never get to see the process from start to finish like we do here."

"Those products are going straight to coalition forces, [Afghan National Army] forces and American troops that need that kind of blood therapy to survive."