Blood shortage prompts urgent call for donations across New York City
A critical seasonal blood shortage is prompting renewed calls for New Yorkers to donate, as hospitals face increased demand and fewer donors during the winter months.
Blood center officials say this time of the year presents unique challenges to maintaining an adequate supply.
"Winter brings holiday travel, seasonal illness, severe weather and numerous school breaks. These factors routinely cause sharp declines in our donor turnout at the exact same time that our hospitals experience higher demand," said Jeannie Masculine, vice president of Blood Operations at the New York Blood Center.
January is National Blood Donor Month, and advocates say people give for many reasons, from civic responsibility to personal experience.
- To learn more about how and where to donate blood, visit NYBC.org.
"This is going to be our act of service for the rest of our lives"
Among those urging action is Gillian Gooding, who knows firsthand how lifesaving blood donations can be. Eleven years ago, Gooding was thrilled to learn she was pregnant after being told she was infertile.
"I had blocked tubes, and they told me I couldn't have children," Gooding said.
During her ninth month of pregnancy, however, she suffered a life-threatening medical emergency, losing consciousness for 26 hours and requiring extensive medical intervention.
"Got up to the news that the baby was no longer there. I hemorrhaged, I coded twice, and I also needed blood," she said.
That experience transformed Gooding into a lifelong blood donor.
"My husband and I have decided this is going to be our act of service for the rest of our lives," she said.
Gooding joined leaders from the New York Blood Center and elected officials in Downtown Brooklyn to encourage residents to donate amid a nationwide shortage.
"I'm literally standing here today on a second chance," she said.
"This is just one of the easiest lifts that makes a transformational difference"
For some donors, the motivation is rooted in family and service. Flatbush resident Sean Gradwell said medicine has always played a central role in his life.
"My whole family is in medicine, and my mom used to walk marathons for blood cancer, for leukemia," Gradwell said as he was donating.
Deputy Brooklyn Borough President Kim Council said a blood transfusion saved her mother's life.
"In October, my mom had a medical emergency and we had to rush her to the hospital. I don't want to think about what could have happened had there not been, you know, like a supply of blood," Council said.
Medical professionals also stressed the impact a single donation can have. Dr. John Brummer, a Manhattan-based podiatrist, said his experience as a first responder shaped his commitment to donating.
"I was a volunteer ambulance first responder, an EMT, when I was in high school, and I've seen a lot of trauma and I was a first responder to 9/11," Brummer said.
Brooklyn Councilmember Lincoln Restler participated in a double red blood cell donation, calling it a simple but powerful way to help others.
"My constituents come up to me all the time and ask, 'Lincoln, how can I help? What can I do to make a difference in the neighborhood?'" he said. "And this is just one of the easiest lifts that makes a transformational difference, that will actually save lives."
Experts say a single pint of blood can save up to three lives.
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