ArmyBlood

There is a great page at www.spouseclubs.com that lists officer and enlisted spouse’ clubs all over the world, arranged by location and post.  She runs a new blog at SpouseClubs.com/Blog.  This is a great resource to anyone looking for information about these groups.

-And she talks about the blood program!

Scroll to 7:45 to see Julia Connor’s (the Newslady!) report on our ceremony. Stars Luke, Simone, Ronald, and Col. Braverman. Good job FHOT!

via DVIDS Fort Hood on Track – Jan. 29, Part 3.

The Pentagon Blood Center finally finds a home!

Photo by Alex McVeigh

. Stephen Beardsley, Northern Regional blood manager for the Armed Services Blood Program, talks about his goals for the Pentagon Blood Donor Center, which just re-opened in its new location Jan. 22 during the open house.

via Blood Donor Center opens in Pentagon.

and yes – that is a very communal “suck it ARC” (vis Kathy Griffin)

According to Blood: An Epic History…, gay people were among the best blood donors before the AIDS epidemic.  Many donation centers were located in large cities’ gay areas, which inadvertently worsened the plague.  The time is approaching when the US will have to work out a smarter risk calculation than NO  (via AABB update):

Survey: 77% of MSM willing to donate blood in the U.K.
An online survey showed that 77% of men who have had sex with men in the U.K. would give blood if there were no nationwide ban against them donating. Yusef Azad, director of policy and campaigns at National AIDS Trust, said the organization is working with authorities to re-evaluate the donation ban considering that MSM could represent 2.3 million more donors every year, as indicated by the survey.  PinkNews.co.uk (U.K.) (1/27)

Factory farms, corporate inspectors, and blood products – what ever could go wrong with this?

IKOR aims to use hemoglobin from cattle as its raw material to develop blood replacement products for injured soldiers, Tye said. The goal is to heal their wounds more quickly and effectively, partly because the products can help deliver oxygen to the wound.The cattle byproducts would come from packing plants, where much of the blood from cattle goes to waste as the animals are processed.

via Aberdeen laboratories developing new blood replacement products | argusleader.com | Argus Leader.

Now watch this sleight of hand, in the business of blood.  The headline reads:  Blood bank appoints new president/CEO to replace Kalmin
but what is really happening is a reshuffling of the deck in the for-profit and “non-profit” companies. The business of blood is just as murky as anything.

“South Texas Blood & Tissue Center President and CEO Norman Kalmin will step down to transition into a new role as president, CEO and medical director of QualTex Laboratories.

QualTex is an affiliate of the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center that is currently expanding its testing services and opening a satellite facility in Norcross, Ga., in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

via Blood bank appoints new president/CEO to replace Kalmin – San Antonio Business Journal:.

The excellent Dr. Kotrla and her research are extensively quoted in this article from Sunday’s Statesman.

Kathryn Kotrla , a psychiatrist and the associate dean at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine's Round Rock campus, said there is a scientific reason that many soldiers seek out extreme pastimes.

Because of repeated deployments, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have subjected soldiers to more prolonged danger than any previous war fought by Americans, Kotrla said.

And soldiers' brains actually change when they are under such a constant threat, said Kotrla, who has a master's degree in developmental neurobiology from Stanford University and completed a fellowship in brain imaging at the National Institutes of Health.

Nerves communicate via synapses, and intense experiences can alter synapses' connections. “They remodel,” Kotrla said.

via Soldiers back from war seek out new risks It is a great and unflinching article that describes a phenomenon long observed (where do you think American motorcycle gangs come from?) but not always well studied.  Dr. Kotrla’s work with both troops and kids may be the foundation for better physical diagnosis of PTSD one day.  Meanwhile, she is involved with several projects that directly benefit our troops, Vets, and their families, including www.TexVet.com.

IAVA gave me a creative outlet for lots of issues when I returned from Iraq.  Family responsibilities help keep me focused, as does the result of my day job – blood for the still deployed.  Not everyone is so lucky.

As Mike Stevens says in the article: “Everyone dies, Life isn’t worth living unless you do something with it, unless you go out and do something with your life.”

I think this is a great idea.  We might find out all sorts of things about the “non-profitability” of blood banks and the for-profit places they associate with.

Bill aims to make Florida blood banks more transparent with finances

Florida State Rep. John Tobia, R-Melbourne, has filed House Bill 509, a measure that would mandate the six biggest blood banks in Florida to annually disclose financial data to the state Agency for Health Care Administration. A spokeswoman for Florida’s Blood Centers chose not to comment on the bill while a representative of Community Blood Centers of South Florida said the center would have no problem with disclosing nearly all of its financial records. Orlando Sentinel (Fla.) (12/23) (from AABB newsletter)

I’m quoted in this Christmas Eve story that is just as valid this week:

Blood needed for troops overseas.

Hey!  Just like for men who have sex with prostitutes or other shady characters:

MSM blood donation ban to end in Sweden
Sweden will start accepting blood donations from men who have sex with men on March 1, 2010, according to the National Board of Health and Welfare. However, donations will be limited to men who have not had sex with a man for a year, the agency said.  Yahoo!/Agence France-Presse (12/1)