Evening star., 1942-12-06

D. c. Must Double TotoI
To Meet Needs Of Army,
Officials Report
On the eve of the first anniver-
sary Of Japan's attack on Pearl
Harbor, blood donor center officials
of Washington pointed out that mil
ttary needs necessitate doubling the
local donations. While the center
can handle 500 donations each day,
~ is receiving fewer than $50 day.
Although some 10000 donations
have been made here since the war
began and the center on october
3 was awarded The Army and Navy
''E" in recognition of its achieve
ment, it was pointed out that Wash
ington must rally vigorously in sup
port of the plasma project If in
creasing needs are to be fulfilled.
Blood Urgently Needed.
Comdr. Lloyd R. Newhouser, 1t.
Col. Douglas B. Kendrick and Mrs.
Dorothy Mason Walton. center off,
cials, yesterday emphasized the urg-
ency of the plasma needs. In the
early stages the center did its own
processing. In addition to operat-
ing its own laboratory, the local
center now is shipping blood to
commercial laboratories for process
ing, a move that followed Army
Navy requests for increased plasma
supplies. Hence the center now can
handle 500 donations daily, where
as under the earlier setup approx
imately ESQ donations daily taxed its
facilities.
AS the center prepared to handle
a stream of donors tomorrow, in
cluding 20 employees of The Star,
Comdr. Newhouser and Col. Ken
drick described the donation army
as the greatest humanitarian army
ever organized in America"
THE 10000 local area donations
constitute an excellent beginning,
but they are not enough" they said.
'This is everybody's war, and moth
ing is gained by pulling punches. If
the thought of Pearl Harbor makes
you mad, don't let your anger SUBJ
side after making one donation;
what we need especially is repeat
ers-men and women who will give
for the duration"
Not Afraid of Getting Hurt.
Donations to the blood bank, it
was emphasized, tend to shorten the
war by restoring wounded men to
active war duty.
Before we entered the war, some
persons would ask us if giving
little blood would hurt" the medi-
cal officers stated. I'VE have not
had any serious instances of donors
being affected physically. But the
boys on Bataan didn't ask if they
would get hurt and the boys in the
South Pacific sea battles and on
Guadalcanal are not asking if they
will get hurt. They had job to
do and we are proud of them.
1--WE feel that civilians, too, will
make every possible sacrifice. once
the actual need for plasma is
blOusllU W IL. 1IlC SlUu.
alton is serious right here in Wash
ington. We need donors and more
donors, new donors and repeat dom
ors. We want every healthy person
in Washington to know their blood
donations not only are welcomed but
are urgently needed"
All persons between 81 and go
years of age are eligible to donate.
provided they are not suffering
from a cold or other current ILL
ness and have not had an operation
or significant illness in the recent
past. Those Is to 81 who have
the signed permission of parent or
guardian also are eligible. BY tele-
phoning Republic 5000. Extension
212, a prospective donor can make
an appointment. Donations cannot
be made except through prior ap-
pointment, inasmuch as the Donor
Center seeks to maintain steady
flow of donors.
May Save Soldiers Life.
Rejecting the spirit pervading the
fighting forces and the Red Cross
WU1 htlS anu SCI NllClllSll pS1iliiASaoiAo
who have labored long hours at dom
or centers, Comdr. Newhouser and
Col Kendrick emphasized that
blood donations have direct con-
nection with the saving of lives
The civilian, through his donation,
becomes a part of the battle zone.
The two military officials called
attention to a recent statement by
Admiral McIntire in which he at
tributed the low mortality rate
among wounded marines on Quad
alcanal largely to Red Cross plasna,
sulfa drugs and flying ambulances.
The death rate among wounded
troops is less than l per cent. Less
than / per cent of the wounded at
Pearl Harbor died from infection,
due to use of plasma and other life
saving medical supplies. it was said.
when Pearl Harbor was bombed,
some 10000 persons in the Honolulu
area Immediately gave donations to
replenish the supply of liquid and
dried plasma," Col. Kendrick and
Comdr Newhouser said. Their re-
sponse was immediate: they had
seen the horror of war first hand.
That example can be emulated with
profit to our soldiers and sailors by
communities such as Washington,
which have not been bombed
There was a tremendous squirt in
donations following American entry
into the war. Then it Jagged, and
again picked up when the marines
and the Navy took the offensive.
Now, with American troops fighting
bitterly in North Africa and on
Pacific islands, the need for plasma
will be even greater.
Washington is one of "a donor
centers. each also maintaining mo-
bile units to visit surrounding COM
munities within a radious of so