Marines give blood at Yale Hall, clinic prepares for ‘blood battle’

Story by Lance Cpl. David Brandes

Marine Corps Base Quantico

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. – The Armed Service Blood Program hosted a blood drive open to service members, their families, and civilians at Yale Hall, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, May 16, 2024.

The ASBP is the official blood donation program of the U.S. military, which collects, tests, stores, transports and distributes blood products to military locations around the world for a variety of patients and medical needs.

“We have a wonderful base of support at Quantico,” said Donna Onwona, a public affairs specialist and donor recruiter working with the ASBP on military installations and government properties in the southern National Capitol Region.

She continued to say how ASBP has a great relationship with Marine Corps Systems Command, Marine Corps University, and the Naval Health Clinic, but is always looking to build more.

Blood is used for a variety of purposes including the treatment of trauma patients, surgery patients, cancer patients going through chemotherapy, mothers who have given birth, and their babies in neonatal intensive care unit.

To increase donations, Onwona explained that ASBP set up a “Battle of the Clinics” at the Naval Health Clinic on base, May 29 and May 30, which is a competition between Washington Navy Yard Branch Health Clinic.

“They have challenged each other to a ‘blood battle’,” said Onwona. “This is strictly for bragging rights, but it’s to see who can have the best blood drive to support our mission.”

Type O blood is “the lifeline for the frontline,” as she calls it, and the most needed blood type, but all types are in need and appreciated.

Anybody interested in donating blood should keep in mind hydration and diet, according to Onwona.

“Good food that will help your hemoglobin, if you have issues with your iron levels, are leafy-green vegetable like spinach, broccoli, all types of meat, and beans too,” she advised. “Anything that will boost your iron will help.”

For those interested to learn more about ASBP, please visit: https://www.health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Health-Readiness/ASBP.