New York Blood Center (NYBC) is calling for more blood donors, due to an alarming drop in blood donations over the holiday weekend. NYBC announced a blood emergency earlier this month, as the blood supply has remained critically low.
The region’s blood supply currently stands at a 3-day level, which is well below the ideal level of 5-7-days.
Hospitals and patients rely upon a steady flow of volunteer donors to receive life-saving donations, but the recent holiday weekend coupled with school breaks and increased travel have made blood donation less of a priority.
In addition to this, the past two years have caused increased volatility in the blood supply, as the pandemic made it difficult for companies and schools to host blood drives.
“This time of year is always difficult for the blood supply, as Memorial Day and the start of summer makes it even more difficult to turnout donors. This year the holiday is coinciding with already low supply levels and steady rising COVID-19 cases,” said Andrea Cefarelli, Senior Vice President at New York Blood Center.“We highly encourage all who are able to donate today and help us combat this shortage before we head into the summer months.”
It only takes one hour to donate, and a single donation can save multiple lives. Roughly one in seven hospital admissions requires a blood transfusion.
Those in need include cancer patients, accident, burn, or trauma victims, transplant recipients, surgery patients, chronically transfused patients suffering from sickle cell disease or thalassemia, and many more.
To make an appointment at a blood drive near you, donors can call 1-800-933-2566 or visit nybc.org.
About New York Blood Center: Founded in 1964, New York Blood Center (NYBC) is a nonprofit organization that is one of the largest independent, community-based blood centers in the world.
NYBC, along with its operating divisions Community Blood Center of Kansas City, Missouri (CBC), Innovative Blood Resources (IBR), Blood Bank of Delmarva (BBD), and Rhode Island Blood Center (RIBC), collect approximately 4,000 units of blood products each day and serve local communities of more than 75 million people in the Tri-State area (NY, NJ, CT), Mid Atlantic area (PA, DE, MD, VA), Missouri and Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Southern New England.
NYBC and its operating divisions also provide a wide array of transfusion-related medical services to over 500 hospitals nationally, including Comprehensive Cell Solutions, the National Center for Blood Group Genomics, the National Cord Blood Program, and the Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute, which — among other milestones — developed a practical screening method for hepatitis B as well as a safe, effective and affordable vaccine, and a patented solvent detergent plasma process innovating blood-purification technology worldwide.
Photo credit: New York Blood Center.
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