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Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Pat Smith (212) 843-8026
psmith@rubenstein.com
Our Blood Supply Still Snowed In
Supplies Dip Below Emergency "Safety Level"
Public Asked to "Have a Heart" on V-Day
February 14, 2013 / New York, NY - New York Blood Center (NYBC) is urgently asking donors to roll up their sleeves on this Valentine's Day to replenish our community blood supply. Many communities are still digging out from the accumulated snow -- which hampers attendance at blood drives and means cancelled appointments at donor centers. The supply of some blood types - notably O-negative, which can be transfused into anyone in a trauma situation - is now below the minimum emergency "safety level."
"We're confident of our ability to supply our 200 partner hospitals with whatever they need, but we're still struggling with the effects of last weekend's blizzard," said NYBC Vice President Rob Purvis. There is no substitute for human blood, and about one in seven hospital admissions requires a blood transfusion. Blood is especially important for people with leukemia, other forms of cancer, and of course for trauma victims.
Three factors are combining together to prompt NYBC's emergency declaration:
- Many blood drives have been cancelled because of accumulated or predicted snowfall.
- Many donors haven't been able to make scheduled donation appointments due to the weather.
- Hospital demand for blood types - notably O-negative, the universal blood type because of its usefulness in trauma situations - remains high.
To donate blood or for information on how to organize a blood drive
Please call Toll Free: 1-800-933-2566
Visit: www.nybloodcenter.org
If you cannot donate but still wish to participate in bringing crucial blood products to patients in need, please ask someone to donate for you, or consider volunteering at a local blood drive. NYBC also offers special community service scholarships for students who organize community blood drives during summer months.
Any company, community organization, place of worship, or individual may host a blood drive. NYBC also offers special community service scholarships for students who organize community blood drives during summer and winter months. Blood donors receive free mini-medical exams on site including information about their temperature, blood pressure and hematocrit level. Eligible donors include those people at least age 16 (with parental permission or consent), who weigh a minimum of 110 pounds, are in good health and meet all Food & Drug Administration and NY or NJ State Department of Health donor criteria. People over 75 may donate with a doctor's note.
About New York Blood Center: New York Blood Center (NYBC) is one of the nation's largest non-profit, community-based blood centers. For fifty years, NYBC has been providing blood, transfusion products and services to hospitals serving more than 20 million people in New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, New Jersey, and parts of Connecticut and Pennsylvania. NYBC is also home to the Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute and the National Cord Blood Program at the Howard P. Milstein National Cord Blood Center, the world's largest public cord blood bank. NYBC provides medical services and programs (Clinical, Transfusion, and Hemophilia Services) through our medical professionals along with consultative services in transfusion medicine. Please visit us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/newyorkbloodcenter. Follow us on Twitter: @NY_BloodCenter.
