10 Minutes to Save a Life

by Airman 1st Class Jeremy L. Mosier
366th Fighter Wing/ Public Affairs

10/27/2014 - MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho  -- It's not every day a person is presented with the opportunity to save another person's life without laying down his or her own.

In the near future Gunfighters will be presented with that exact opportunity, potentially saving the lives of fellow Airmen by taking a brief moment to become bone marrow donors.

To be a donor one must be a U.S. citizen with a valid social security number and over the age of 18. The donor drive also is extended, but not limited, to spouses and contractors working on base.

"It takes 10 minutes, the longest part is the two-page form you have to fill out; completing the actual sample takes about a minute," said Staff Sgt. Makenzie Tibbetts, 366th Comptroller Squadron NCO in charge of customer service. "You provide four sample locations, 10 seconds a piece with the swabs on the inside of your cheeks."

Although the process only takes 10 minutes, there are many misconceptions of being a bone marrow donor. Such as, it's very painful or a chip of bone is taken out of your hip.

"In the past, yes, it was very painful but now it's a surgical procedure where they put you under anesthesia and use a special syringe to extract the bone marrow from where your spine meets your hip," said Master Sgt. Daniel Mann, 366th Equipment Maintenance Squadron NCO in charge of conventional munitions maintenance and Wing point of contact for the Department of Defense bone marrow drive. "The pain that is associated with the procedure is similar to that of a bruised tail bone."

There's only a 1 percent chance of being a perfect match to someone in need of the transplant, but there are between 600,000 to 900,000 people in need and only 60,000 donors in the national registry.

"It's a one-time event," said Mann, on becoming a donor. "Once you've done it you're in the national registry until your 61st birthday."

The odds of being a match may steer many away from being a donor; but to the individual in need, it's one more hope to finding a match.

"We have an individual here on base assigned to the 366th EMS who is battling bone marrow cancer and is in need of a transplant," said Mann. "There is also a lieutenant in the 366th Force Support Squadron whose 4-year-old nephew is battling cancer and is also in need of a bone marrow transplant."

Unfortunately the base's first bone marrow drive fell short of expectations. Mann hopes the next bone marrow drive will reach the goal of 50 percent of the base donating to give hope to our fellow Airmen and all who are in need.

"It's a very worthwhile cause," said Mann. "I hope folks will try and take the negative light that used to be shed on being a donor and look at the true reason for it, to save a life."