Appalled by the carnage inflicted by terrorists Sept. 11, hundreds of service members and civilians rolled up their sleeves to give blood at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
Calls from people asking about a chance to donate started not long after the televised images of destruction to the World Trade Center began to air, said Lt. Cmdr. Jean Scherrer, director of the Armed Services Blood Bank Center.
The most common sentiment she heard from assembled donors: “I just wanted to do something.”
Even before word came that a jetliner had hit the Pentagon about 40 minutes after the World Trade Center attacks, Scherrer and her staff were readying a donation center in the lobby of Building Nine on the hospital grounds.
Waiting as long as five hours, about 300 people donated blood Sept. 11, followed by 75 the next morning. The center typically collects about 200 units of blood in a week.
Donors came from all services, the hospital’s civilian staff and nearby Uniform Services University of Health students, Scherrer said. Doctors and nurses pitched in and bolstered the staff of 25 by helping with medical checks. The hospital’s galley donated snacks and juice.
The center normally supplies blood to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the National Naval Medical Center and the Malcolm Grow Medical Center at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
A pint of whole blood is processed into four different blood products — red blood cells, plasma, platelets and a coagulant.
“One donation can help three to four different patients,” she said.
The outpouring of support is not over. More than 24 commands in the National Capital Area, from all branches of the military, have asked the center’s mobile collection team to visit, Scherrer said.
