ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. –
Every day more than 6,000 men, women and children search the National Marrow Donor Program Registry for a life-saving donor. These patients have leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases that can be treated by a bone marrow or cord blood transplant.
Each year, thousands of lives are lost because a match is not found. This coming week, Team Andrews has a profound opportunity to make a difference and possibly save a life.
Team Andrews will be hosting a base-wide bone marrow drive in support of the C.W. Bill Young Department of Defense Marrow Donor Program, Tuesday through Sept. 7. Those interested in participating in the program can visit the Bone Marrow BX Rally at the Andrews Base Exchange vendor area, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m Tuesday to Sept. 7. The drive will directly support DoD personnel in their time of need.
"There are more than 500 Department of Defense employees and dependants desperately waiting for bone marrow transplants," said Capt. Steve Skipper, 89th Presidential Airlift Group mission director and the donor program's co-installation project officer. "These include family members and active duty personnel who are sick with disorders like leukemia and need life-saving bone marrow transplants."
All members of Team Andrews can participate including retirees, civilians, dependants and military members. "There are very few disqualifiers-and they are serious such as HIV and active cancer. If you've been in remission for one year, you can register," said Capt. James Christensen, 1st Helicopter Squadron mission pilot and the donor program's co-installation project officer. "You can register if you've been turned down to be a blood donor, have lived in the U.K., Africa or Iraq, had a recent tattoo, received anti-malaria medication or the anthrax vaccination."
During the marrow drive, only four cotton cheek swabs and two pages of paperwork are required. "Bone marrow donation is much easier than ever before," said Captain Christensen. "A week prior to the extraction, you are given medication that helps pull out bone marrow into your blood stream. You are then hooked up to a machine, just like giving platelets, that pulls blood out of one arm, spins it through a machine that puts the bone marrow into a bag. The remaining blood is then sent back into the other arm. The process takes about two hours, you watch a movie and are given juice and cookies throughout the process."
Captain Skipper added, "There is little pain associated with being a donor. It's a small price to pay to save a life!"
Donors who are identified as a match and decide to donate marrow will have all expenses associated with the procedure paid for by the DoD, including those expenses for spouse or friend. The procedure takes place at George Washington University in Washington D.C.
"We are pushing the throttles hard and would like to register more than 2000 potential donors," said Captain Skipper. "It is vitally important that as many people as possible get on the list to increase the odds of finding a match. I firmly believe we can meet and exceed our goal. It's the first time in recent memory where Team Andrews has hosted a bone marrow drive and we would like this very worthwhile event to occur on an annual basis."
This endeavor is so important to the DoD, that it will send soldiers from combat zones and other locales for the bone marrow procedure. "If you're on deployment in Iraq, or elsewhere worldwide, and you are called to be a donor, we will work with your commanding officer to get you back to the States for the procedure," said Captain Christensen. At least 17 personnel currently serving in Iraq have returned to the United States for the bone marrow procedure.
Since 1989, the DoD has assisted in the national registry of donors. In 2006, 445 DoD personnel were identified as donors.
Interested donors should contact their respective wing representatives. To find your respective wing representative, contact Capt. James Christensen at James.Christensen-02@Andrews.af.mil or Capt. Steve Skipper at Steven.Skipper-02@Andrews.af.mil.