Not Totally OT

During this week that includes Veterans Day, and that follows last week’s senseless and shocking incident at Fort Hood, where 12 soldiers and a civilian were shot to death by a fellow soldier, I’d like to put in a plug for a worthy organization – the Armed Services Blood Program, or ASBP.

The ASBP is a joint Army, Navy and Air Force activity subject to the authority of the Secretary of Defense and under the operational control of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Its mission is to provide quality blood products for Service members and their families worldwide, in both peace and war. Towards this end, it operates over 20 Blood Donor Centers.

The ASBP was especially challenged last week. Over 139 units of blood had to be transfused during treatment of the 29 people wounded in Major Hasan’s rampage. Although the military blood supply is now adequate, the ASBP is urging people to give blood regularly, since blood is perishable and there’s always a downturn in donations during the holiday season. You can locate a military blood donor center on the ASBP’s website, www.militaryblood.dod.mil. If you’re not close enough to give at a military blood donor center, consider giving to your local civilian blood program, because giving blood is giving life.

Why, you may ask, is this not totally off the topic of writing?

Well, I became aware of the ASBP through my day job. Among other facts, I learned that each Blood Donor Center has a civilian employee with the title, “Blood Donor Recruiter.” This set my slightly twisted writerly mind to work, and on November 1, I started my NaNoWriMo novel – a romantic comedy about a conscience-stricken vampire who finagles himself a job as a Blood Donor Recruiter because he wants to stop harming humans.

Five days later, the very first thing I heard about the tragedy at Fort Hood was a CNN report of a call for donations of blood of every type. I was reminded that while my manuscript is funny (I hope!), the work of the ASBP is serious and important.

So, I raise my chocolate martini glass in a Diva salute to the men and women of the ASBP, including the Blood Donor Recruiters (not a vampire in the bunch!), and to the donors who support the organization, and of course, to the Service members who depend on it.