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NY Blood Center Warns of Dangerously Low Supplies

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/nyregion/10blood.html

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January 10, 2007
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

The New York region’s blood supply has dropped to a five-year low, prompting blood bank officials to warn yesterday of life-threatening shortages if donations do not increase.

The New York Blood Center — the region’s main blood bank — was forced this week to limit hospitals’ supplies of some less common blood types, and it says it could be days away from rationing more common types as well. The center collects and distributes most of the blood used in New York City, Long Island, northern New Jersey and the Hudson Valley.

If the shortfall in donations persists for too much longer, hospitals could be unable to give needed transfusions to trauma patients or those having emergency surgery, said Dr. Robert L. Jones, president and chief executive of the blood center.

“It has happened before,” he said, though not in recent years, “and it could happen again.”

To keep up with demand, the region needs 2,000 blood donors a day. In recent weeks, according to the center’s records, the average has been about 1,200.

The Greater New York Hospital Association said that so far, none of its members had reported curtailing services because of the shortage. “The first thing you’d see is postponing elective surgery, and we’re not there yet, but it could be close,” said Kenneth E. Raske, president of the group. “Everyone’s aware that it’s a real problem.”

…In 2002, the federal government curtailed importation of blood supplies from Europe, an important source for the New York region, because of concerns about the human form of mad cow disease. For the same reason, people who have spent a significant amount of time in Europe are barred from donating here.

More people than ever are prohibited from giving blood because they have traveled to areas of the world where malaria is common, or because they have been exposed to hepatitis, which is common among Asian immigrants.
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