By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Charles White, Navy Region Southeast Public Affairs
PORT EVERGLADES, Fla. (NNS) -- Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen participating in Fleet Week Port Everglades 2011 are partnering with the Community Blood Centers of South Florida (CBCSF) to meet needs in Broward, Monroe, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach county hospitals, April 26-29.
Dawn Bossaller, CBCSF director of donor recruitment, said donations by the service members will help maintain necessary quantities for emergent care situations in the area and will boost supply to acceptable levels well into June.
"We have two primary level-one trauma centers right here in [South Florida], so the need for blood is tremendous," she said.
According to CNCSF, during a past Fleet Week Port Everglades, visiting sea services donated nearly 300 pints of blood – a quantity which would ordinarily take 25 blood drives to collect.
"It is easier for us to convert a military member into a donor because they get it," Bossaller said. "They know what it means to serve. We very much appreciate the support of the military."
Seaman Jonathan Imbert of USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), chose to donate blood during Fleet Week because, as he said, "I just like helping other people."
After being told about the common use of blood platelets, plasma, and red blood cells to treat childhood illnesses, Imbert decided to undergo the more lengthy procedure of donating all three. "I'm actually a father now," he said. "So I understand how [a childhood illness] could affect a family."
The mobile site on Port Everglades pier does not require an appointment for service members wishing to donate. Those who are in good health and have not given blood within the last 56 days are asked to stop by one of the two Blood Mobiles near Terminal 21 to complete a short medical screening.
Community Blood Centers of Florida is a non-profit, all-voluntary blood collection agency, annually collecting more than 250,000 pints of blood and blood products for hospital and kidney dialysis patients in southeast and central Florida. According to CBCSF, 60 percent of Americans are eligible to give blood, but only five percent actually do.
More than 2,500 Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen are in South Florida for Fleet Week Port Everglades 2011. The week-long celebration of the sea services honors the men and women of the military through public events and recognition, and also provides the sea services an opportunity to showcase the capabilities of surface platforms, equipment and the skills of the men and women serving aboard these vessels.
For more information on Fleet Week Port Everglades 2011, visit the Navy Region Southeast Public Affairs Center's Navy NewsStand page at https://navcms.news.navy.mil/local/nrse/.
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