Gueydan's Sylvester Wins ASBP’s 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award

Gueydan's Sylvester Win ASBP’s 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award

FALLS CHURCH, Va., Oct. 17, 2014 — The Armed Services Blood Program proudly awards retired Air Force Lt. Col. Ruth Sylvester, of Gueydan, and retired Navy Cmdr. Jerry Holmberg with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Both Sylvester and Holmberg have had distinguished military careers, leaving a long-lasting impact on the military banking community.

Established in 2009, the Lifetime Achievement Award has since recognized those who exemplify tireless dedication to the military blood program. Each year, the ASBP awards individuals whose accomplishments have had a transformative effect on blood banking in the military.

“It is my honor to recognize Lt. Col. Sylvester and Cmdr. Holmberg with the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award,” Navy Capt. Roland Fahie, ASBP director, said. “These two have made great contributions to military blood banking and their accomplishments have truly helped the ASBP save countless lives.”

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Ruth Sylvester
Sylvester has more than 40 years of experience in both clinical laboratories and blood banks, specializing in troubleshooting and improving operations. Over the course of her 22 years in the Air Force, she excelled in various positions including as a leader in the clinical laboratory and in blood banking.

According to Air Force Lt. Col. Angela Hudson, Sylvester excelled as the first Air Force quality assurance coordinator. She developed the program from the ground up, collating and analyzing five years of error, and Food and Drug Administration data and used the results to identify improvements.

“Her efforts resulted in reducing FDA discrepancies by 50 percent and FDA reportable errors by 38 percent,” Hudson said in her nomination letter.

From 1998 to 2000, Sylvester served as the chief of the Air Force Blood Program. In this position, she developed and disseminated blood policy for 38 Air Force medical treatment facilities, transfusing 20,000 units at 12 blood donor centers and collecting 30,000 units annually, Hudson said. Under her leadership, her team also conceptualized and evaluated the Expeditionary Medical Support laboratory capabilities to ensure adequate support to the revolutionary wartime medical field asset.

As the deputy director of operations for the ASBP, Sylvester was a key strategist of the Operation Iraqi Freedom blood support plan, delivering 62,000 units to theater. According to Hudson, this enabled 8,000 transfusions to more than 2,000 patients. She also helped increase blood collections by 42 percent while decreasing deferrals by 25 percent by implementing donor marketing and recruitment programs.

In 2003, Sylvester became the 14th director of the ASBP. In this role, she was instrumental in directing the Department of Defense Joint Health Agency that manages the global policies, planning and operations of, what was at that time, a $76 million blood program for military departments and combatant commands. Her accomplishments included fielding a triad of automated tools for achieving goals by capitalizing on emerging technology and integrating systems into a cohesive network.

Sylvester was always active in medical readiness and disaster preparedness and excelled as the DOD liaison to the AABB Interorganizational Task Force for Domestic Disasters and Terrorism. She led disaster preparedness planning to ensure continued operations during natural and manmade emergencies and continues to assist and support America’s Blood Centers’ member organizations with developing local plans. Recently, Sylvester has co-authored a chapter on disasters in the last two editions of the AABB technical manuals and has spoken at several state-level workshops on disaster planning for blood.

“She was a liaison to an international group of blood pandemic influenza planners who are coordinating and sharing best practices to ensure uninterrupted blood supply worldwide during a potential pandemic outbreak,” Hudson said. “She is truly an outstanding representative of the ASBP. It was my pleasure to nominate her for the ASBP Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Retired Navy Cmdr. Jerry Holmberg
Holmberg has more than 43 years of experience in all areas of laboratory medicine with a concentration on blood bank operations, research, education and policy. Commissioned in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant junior grade in 1980, Holmberg began his career assigned to the Blood Bank and Transfusion Center at the National Naval Medical center in Bethesda, Md.