NEW YORK- With holiday travel, seasonal illness and winter weather expected to strain the blood supply, New York Blood Center (NYBC) is urging New Yorkers to donate blood now, before winter shortages intensify and hospitals face increased demand.\u00a0 Blood donations nationwide typically drop by more than one-third during the winter months, even as trauma care, cancer treatment, transplants and surgeries continue uninterrupted.<\/p>\n
To encourage donations during this critical period, all who come to donate at any NYBC donor center or community blood drive between\u00a0Saturday, December 20th and Friday, January 2nd\u00a0will receive their choice of a festive pair of fuzzy socks or a winter hat as a thank-you for helping patients in need.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen donations slow down, hospitals feel it almost immediately,\u201d said Jeannie Mascolino, Vice President, Blood Operations at New York Blood Center.\u00a0 \u201cEvery unit of blood represents a real person who took time out of their busy life to help someone they\u2019ll never meet, whether it\u2019s a child fighting cancer, a trauma patient after an accident, or a neighbor facing an unexpected surgery. Donating now, before winter challenges pile up, is one of the most powerful ways New Yorkers can care for each other during the holidays.\u201d<\/p>\n
NYBC currently has just a three- to four-day supply of blood overall, leaving little margin for emergencies, severe weather or sudden spikes in hospital demand.\u00a0 Supplies of O-negative, O-positive and B-negative blood are critically low, with only a one- to two-day supply on hand, and donors are urgently needed.<\/p>\n
In light of recent updates to FDA guidance, more people than ever may now be eligible to give. Blood donors can give every 56 days, and platelet donors can give twice per month.\u00a0 To view current eligibility guidelines or make an appointment, donors can call 1-800-933-2566 or visit\u00a0nybc.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Those unable to donate blood, as well as current blood donors who want to do even more, can support NYBC\u2019s End of Year Campaign, which raises critical funds to strengthen and ensure a safe and reliable blood supply.\u00a0 Every contribution supports lifesaving research, donor center upgrades, mobile blood drives, and education programs that inspire the next generation of blood donors.\u00a0 Click here<\/a>\u00a0to learn more.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK- With holiday travel, seasonal illness and winter weather expected to strain the blood supply, New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[38451,9,35506,11,10],"class_list":["post-76737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-blood-donation","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-blood-center","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}