Blood Supply Shortage at Interfaith Medical Center

Last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg encouraged people to donate blood, in the wake of the sixth largest snowstorm in New York City history.

"Blood supply in the city is getting very low, and with another three-day holiday weekend coming up, it will get even lower," he said.

This week, Interfaith Medical Center in Bed-Stuy still lacks adequate blood supply, according to hospital spokesperson Melissa Krantz. The blizzard further compounded the low supply typical of winter months.

While she was unable to quantify the current levels of blood supply, she confirms that there is a perpetual need when bad weather meets cold winter months.

"There is always a need during the winter," said Krantz, who spoke with the hospital's hematologists to assess the need.

The New York Blood Center (NYBC) provides transfusion services to about 200 hospitals in New York and New Jersey.  Many of their blood drives were canceled as a result of the storm.

"Many of our donors were not able to travel to our mobile blood drives or our donor centers to donate," said NYBC spokesperson Keith Hudson.

NYBC lost 210 donations after they canceled all of their mobile blood drives in Brooklyn on the Monday and Tuesday after the storm. Fortunately, proper preparation and anticipation of the storm meant that NYBC's supply never actually dipped below normal levels which, according to Hudson, is a five- to seven-day supply.

They were also able to successfully deliver all of their blood and blood products, like platelets and plasma, to the hospitals they service. And since Interfaith Medical Center is one of the facilities that NYBC services, Krantz says that the best way to help with their crisis is by donating blood through NYBC.

While all blood types are needed, O-negative is the most requested because it's the universal donor, which means it can be transfused to anyone regardless of the recipient's own blood type, said Hudson.

The shelf life of blood is 42 days. Platelets has a shelf life of only five days and plasma can be frozen for up to one year.

A spokesperson for New York City's Health and Hospital Corporation said that all of their hospitals, which include Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center on Broadway, reported an adequate supply of blood.

The NYBC Brooklyn Donor Center is located at 120 Lawrence Street in downtown Brooklyn. You can also call 1-800-933-2566 to find the location, date and times for blood drives and other donor center locations.