One scene in The Diplomat season 2, episode 5 offhandedly mentions blood after Grace Penn’s arrival at Winfield House, covering a real-life practice of the Secret Service. The Diplomat starting with the attack against HMS Courageous meant the President and Vice President of the US both visited Kate at her new posting in a small time frame, showing the extent of organization needed to accommodate such visits. However, while President Rayburn’s visit in The Diplomat season 1 was always supposed to be brief, Grace Penn’s surprise arrival in The Diplomat season 2 was entirely unexpected.

Trowbridge’s unrestrained public remarks meant that Rayburn’s visit in The Diplomat season 1, episode 3 had very specific problems needing to be handled. Instead, Penn’s visit in The Diplomat season 2, episode 5 being unplanned made expectations over its duration and purpose impossible. It also made particularly evident the Secret Service’s meticulous handling of Penn’s whereabouts, not letting the Vice President greet the Prime Minister upon his arrival nor letting Hal in the room. Their arrival nonetheless included an unusual moment when Winfield House’s manager Frances requested “the blood” and Agent Griffith delivered it, before asking to refrigerate it.

Why The Secret Service Had A Container Of Blood

Agent Griffith Gives Frances A Container With Blood In The Diplomat Season 2

Agent Griffith looking after Penn’s protection in The Diplomat season 2 hints at her likely being part of the Presidential Protection Division (PPD), a branch of the Secret Service responsible for guarding the life of the president, vice president, and their immediate families. The container with blood Griffith hands to Frances to refrigerate holds bags with the same blood type as Vice President Penn’s so that in case of a medical emergency, that would already be at hand. The PPD carries the official’s blood everywhere, and that is the case also in real life.

The autobiography specifies how the protection of the President and Vice President is statutory, leaving them no choice in the matter.

According to Standing Next To History: An Agent’s Life Inside The Secret Service by Joseph Petro and Jeffrey Robinson, that is the regular practice for the Secret Service, whose primary responsibility is protecting the President and Vice President. The autobiography also specifies how the protection of the President and Vice President is statutory, letting them have “no choice in the matter.” According to Robinson, the Secret Service always has bags of blood in the motorcade in case a transfusion is needed, and its agents are trained in “ten-minute medicine,” letting them stabilize the President themselves before the professionals’ arrival.

US Secret Service Always Have The President & Vice President’s Blood With Them

Various Precautions Are In Place To Ensure The President’s Safety

Petro’s autobiography Standing Next To History has a trove of information about the role of Secret Service agents assigned to the PPD, confirming how by design, they are never more than ten minutes away from professional medical attention, especially considering how medical emergencies pose the highest risk to the president. This knowledge, coupled with details about Penn’s blood, makes The Diplomat season 2’s ending ironically accurate, considering how Rayburn’s sudden illness is triggered by Hal telling him about Penn’s involvement in the HMS Courageous attack.

An article about the presidential limousine by entertainment and education brand Spyscape specified how the “Beast” is equipped with a blood supply in the fridge part of the vehicle, along with an oxygen supply in case of an attack. This is made even safer by the fact the President or Vice President’s location when traveling is never more than ten minutes away from a trauma center (via Mental Floss). By including the little detail about the blood, The Diplomat season 2, episode 5 thus briefly hints at the lengths the PPD goes to protect the President and the Vice President.