BLOOD BROTHER

WASILLA — Ed Lamm is a bloody good man.

Lamm, a 64-year-old retired civil service mechanic from Wasilla, stopped by the Wasilla branch of the Alaska Blood Bank Thursday morning to make his 300th life-giving donation. Over the past decade, Lamm has given 89 gallons of blood, making him the most prolific donor in the state.

Blood Bank manager Jeremy Ferreira said Lamm exemplifies the type of individual who’s the lifeblood of the organization.

“What keeps us going is our consistent donors,” Ferreira said as technicians prepared to hook Lamm to a high-tech Trima machine, which uses centrifuges to separate blood products from whole blood.

Making Lamm’s donations more notable is the fact that, for the past eight years, he’s given blood platelets, which aid clotting and stop bleeding in the body. Platelets are especially valuable because, unlike other blood products, they can only be stored for a very short time.

“The hard thing with platelets is they only have a five-day shelf life,” Blood Bank CEO Jack Williams said.

Blood Bank technician Cynthia Watts said that because the process of separating platelets from whole blood is much more involved, Lamm’s donations take about an hour each. She said a typical whole blood donation only takes about 15 minutes.

Lamm began donating blood in the early 1970s when he was working at Elmendorf Air Force Base and, as “just something to do,” he tagged along with a friend who was going to give blood.

And he was hooked.

“One thing the Blood Bank will do, once they’ve got their hook in you, they’ll call you up,” Lamm said as Watts sterilized his right arm and prepared to insert the needle. “Somewhere along the line, instead of waiting for a phone call I decided to just start going in.”

That was about 10 years ago, and since then Lamm has been returning to the Blood Bank about once every two weeks, showing up early in the morning, sitting down in a chair and waiting as the life-giving platelets are slowly extracted from his blood. He started in Anchorage, where he moved in 1964 while serving in the Air Force, then switched to Wasilla when he moved to the Valley a year and a half ago.

For donating 89 gallons, Lamm was presented with a framed certificate recognizing his achievement. The certificate was handed to him by both Williams, the CEO, and Watts, who for the past year and a half has been Lamm’s primary phlebotomist (blood-taker), as well as his main conversation partner.

“I’ve gotten to know him pretty good,” Watts said.

At first, Watts said Lamm didn’t say much during his appointments, which made her a bit nervous.

“I was always afraid I was gonna miss [Lamm’s vein],” she said.

After a few sessions, though, she said Lamm’s good nature set her at ease.

“I’m not scared of him anymore,” she said with a laugh.

Besides, Lamm said, the needle doesn’t really hurt that much anyway.

“No more than a mosquito bite,” he said.

While Lamm never set out to set any records for blood donation, he said Thursday’s milestone is something he’ll cherish.

“I think it’s something to be proud of,” he said.

Lamm said most of his friends probably don’t even know about his gift for giving.

“I don’t promote it like I probably should,” he said.

Watts said that’s fine with the Blood Bank staff. They’re just happy to have such a willing and dependable donor.

“He leads by example,” he said.

Lamm admitted his motives aren’t entirely selfless. He said his wife won’t buy him chocolate milk at home, and part of the reason he keeps coming back to the Wasilla center is the free goodies he gets while he waits.    

Center manager Ferreira said the Blood Bank is always looking for new donors to step up like Lamm has. He pointed to a tote board in the center’s office showing that for at least two types of blood (types O-negative and A-negative), the state is down to “condition red,” which means there’s only a one-day supply available. Even with supplies of more common blood types stable, he said one big accident or emergency can rapidly draw down supplies.

“One major accident and some of these blood types my slip into yellow or red,” he said.

Ferreira said giving blood is safe, relatively painless and can take as little as a half hour out of someone’s day. Anyone in good health between the ages of 16 and 74 is eligible to donate, though he did say that 16- and 17-year-olds must have a parent’s permission.    

“And we’ve got tons of juice and cookies,” Ferreira added.

Some of the state’s best donors, Blood Bank Public Relations Manager Jessica Golden reports, are teens.

“Last year, 16 percent of donations came from students,” Golden said.

That includes the blood-giving-happy students at the Valley’s Houston High, who last year managed to beat out all other high schools in the state during a year-long blood drive challenge.

“They’ve just got some really energetic kids out there,” Jack Williams said.

As for Lamm, he said he has no plans to stop giving blood any time soon. At age 64, he’s still got another decade of giving ahead of him, and he intends to continue coming back as long as the Blood Bank will let him.

“I don’t see any reason not to,” he said.

To become a blood donor, people may stop by the Blood Bank of Alaska’s Mat-Su Center, which is located in Suite B-9 of the Lakeview Professional Building at 851 E. Westpoint Drive in Wasilla. Hours of operation are Monday through Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Cynthia Watts said drop-ins are welcome, although she said it’s not a bad idea to make an appointment by calling 376-1195 to avoid having to wait when the center is busy.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com.