Urgent Call for Blood Donors as Hurricane Approaches

Blood Supplies Already Tight Due to Summer Vacations and Labor Day

NEW YORK, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New York Blood Center (NYBC), serving more than 20 million people in New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley and New Jersey, calls upon our communities to please donate blood and platelets, as the East Coast braces for Hurricane Earl.  While donations from Rh-negative types are especially crucial, healthy people of all blood types and ethnicities are encouraged to donate.

Donors are being asked to give blood while they can, but please call 1-800-933-BLOOD or visit www.nybloodcenter.org before leaving home for the latest information regarding cancellations.

Hurricane Earl comes at an especially challenging time for NYBC, since fewer people are able to donate due to school and work vacations, plus the Labor Day holiday.  The need for blood is constant.  Hospital use of blood products remains high -- due to surgeries, emergencies and care of cancer patients.  About one in seven people entering a hospital needs blood.  Blood donations received this week will also help to replenish community supply lost over the course of the 3-day holiday weekend.

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 the summer.  Blood donors receive free mini-medical exams on site including information about their temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure and hemoglobin 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.

To donate blood, please call:

Toll Free:  1-800-933-BLOOD (2566)

Visit:  www.nybloodcenter.org

About New York Blood Center:  New York Blood Center (NYBC) is one of the nation's largest non-profit, community-based blood centers. 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: @NYBloodCenter.  

SOURCE New York Blood Center