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Winter storms hurt already-low blood supply
The blood supply has been at critically low levels recently because of the lack of blood drives due to the pandemic, and the winter weather has only made the situation worse. But at the New York Blood Center, donors have been showing up day after day to save a life.
NEW YORK - Once or twice a month, David Sokol rolls up his sleeve, in hopes of helping others.
"I'm just doing my good deed for society, that's all," Sokol said as he reclined with a book in one hand, his other arm outstretched with a needle inserted.
Sokol is a regular donor at the New York Blood Center where officials say, they need more people like him -- desperately.
"We've now seen a huge decline in our donors," said Angela Monteagle, Director of Donor Marketing for Center.
According to Monteagle, right now there is a critical shortage of blood and platelets.
The center, which serves hospitals in New York and New Jersey, saw a dangerous drop in supply at the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak last spring. But while donations have rebounded slightly since then, social distancing requirements mean less capacity to collect.
"We used to host over 500 blood drives a month, and now we're down around 100," Monteagle said.
Now, the recent string of winter storms has compounded an already difficult situation
"We've already had over 10 blood drives canceled today, that's well into the hundreds of collections were not able to collect," she said.
That translates to less blood on the shelves, which means less supply for hospitals, where blood is needed to help everyone from cancer patients to accident victims.
The center relies on a roster of regular donors, who come with masks on, arms ready.
"Everything has changed but the need for blood has not," said Monteagle. "We still need donors every single day to help patients at hospital."
She offered this appeal: "The biggest incentive to donating blood today is that you are literally saving someone's life."
For David Sokol, that makes it worth it.
"It's a relaxing way to spend an afternoon," he said.
Willing donors are asked to head to NYBloodCenter.org and make appointments ahead of time.