The Armed Services Blood Program (ASBP) has been in existence for more than 60 years supporting the military community and their families by providing quality blood products and services. Below are recent activities pertaining to the program.
| Sept 2001 | Naval Hospital Great Lakes Regional Blood Donor Center collection teams are “activated” to begin collection of drastically increased numbers of blood units and products for shipment to the ASBP. Memorandums of Agreements are drafted to ensure military oversight of all potential blood donors within the Great Lakes Department of Defense population. |
| Dec 2004 | Then named Naval Hospital Regional Blood Donor Center relocates from B-200H to the North Chicago Veterans Affairs Medical Center under Phase 1 of the DoD Resources Sharing Plan. Blood drives continue throughout the move, with continued shipment of blood and blood products to the ASBP and theaters of operation. |
| Mar 2006 | Donor collection drives at Recruit Training Command Great Lakes relocate to the Recruit “Ships”. This move from the Branch Medical Clinic 1523 to the ships directly enhances the available recruit population for blood drives. Transit times to and from the drive site are virtually eliminated and availability of additional blood donors is increased. |
| Jun 2006 | First ever Joint Services blood drives takes place in Great Lakes in conjunction with blood donor centers from the United States Army and Air Force. Hundreds of additional blood products are collected from the summer recruit “surge” period that otherwise would not have been collected. |
| Jul 2007 | Launch of online appointment scheduling system makes blood donation easier than ever for donors. |
| Dec 2008 | Recruit Training Command Great Lakes adjusts training schedules for all recruits while in boot camp to be afforded the opportunity to donate blood to the ASBP. |
| Feb 2009 | Additional safeguards for immunization verification placed in practice prior to the actual day of collection on recruits while in boot camp. All immunizations dates, both routine administration and prophylactic, continued to be verified with the Branch Health Clinic immunization database, and additionally with the department medical coordinator for each recruit division, resulting in significantly lower deferral rates. |
| Oct 2010 | Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes combined resources with the North Chicago Veterans Affairs Medical Center. New outpatient facilities begin operation under a Department of Defense/Veterans Affairs Resources Sharing Plan. The new facility began operations under the name ofCaptain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center. As a result, the Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes, 200-H facility ceased patient care entirely. |
| Nov 2010 | All mobile blood drives for recruits moved permanently to Recruit Training Command Great Lakes Ship 05, USS Theodore Roosevelt. This is the first new permanent location since recruit blood drives commenced in 2006. |
| Jul 2011 | First ever DOD blood drive at the Captain James A. Lovell FHCC. This is the home location for the Armed Services Blood Program Great Lakes. |
| Nov 2011 | Introduction of the Branch Health Clinic Blood Collection Challenges at all four area branch clinics. |
| Sep 2012 | First joint blood collection effort with a civilian area blood collection agency. |
