A nor'easter that flooded shore communities and knocked out power to thousands of people across New York and New Jersey last weekend also cost the region roughly 1,000 blood donations, as drives were canceled and some willing donors simply couldn't get out to give. The losses land at an especially bad moment: hospitals across the two states were already stretched thin heading into a month blood officials say could be the hardest of the year for collections.
New York Blood Center and New Jersey Blood Services said the storm forced the cancellation of blood drives and left some donors unable to travel safely, resulting in the loss of about 1,000 donations, according to PIX11. The organization confirmed the same figure in its own announcement, titled a call for donors after the storm caused drive cancellations and the loss of 1,000 blood donations, per New York Blood Center.
September was already shaping up to be the blood center's most challenging month for collections so far this year, with donations running nearly 2,700 short of what local hospitals need, PIX11 reported. Jeannie Mascolino, the blood center's vice president of operations, said severe weather can halt collection almost instantly even though hospital demand doesn't pause with it. “Blood collection can stop almost immediately, but the need for blood at our hospitals does not,” Mascolino said, according to the outlet's report.
Hospitals Can't Pause Their Need for Blood
Hospitals rely on a steady pipeline of donations to treat patients undergoing emergency care, surgery, and other medical procedures, PIX11 noted. Mascolino urged donors who are able to give this week to do so, in hopes of helping recover what the storm cost. The station's report did not specify the exact date the cancellations occurred, only that they followed last weekend's storm.
The setback comes on the heels of an already rocky September for the region's blood supply. Just over a week earlier, New York Blood Center and New Jersey Blood Services had issued an urgent call for Type O donors after regional supplies fell to critically low levels, according to SILive.com. O-negative blood can go to patients of any blood type, while O-positive, the most common type, is widely used in both emergency and routine care, the outlet reported.
A Rough Stretch Stretching Back to Summer
That mid-September shortage followed a post-Labor Day slump in which donations dropped more than 24%, leaving the region nearly 2,000 donations short of patient needs, per the same report. SILive.com noted the shortfall came after a difficult summer that produced two separate blood emergencies. New York Blood Center said it experienced multiple stretches of critically low inventory during that stretch, according to Patch.
One of those summer emergencies saw overall blood inventory fall to roughly two days of supply, a level the blood center called unprecedented for having declared two emergencies in a single summer, per New York Blood Center. The organization attributed the drain to extreme heat, severe storms, prolonged power outages and ongoing storm cleanup, all of which cut into donor turnout. Winter has brought its own disruptions too: severe weather across New York in January led to disrupted travel and forced blood drive cancellations, the blood center said in a separate announcement.
Regional Pattern Shows Storms Repeatedly Draining Supply
The nor'easter's toll on New York and New Jersey isn't an isolated case. A historic winter storm forced New York Blood Center and New Jersey Blood Services to cancel all operations on a Sunday and cost the region nearly 2,000 donations, prompting the organizations to extend their blood emergency appeal for two additional weeks. New York Blood Center normally delivers 500,000 blood products a year to more than 150 hospitals, EMS organizations and health care partners, underscoring how quickly a single storm can strain that pipeline.
A comparable storm in Connecticut offers a sense of how fast supplies can crater. The Connecticut Blood Center declared a blood emergency after a historic winter storm brought record snowfall and forced widespread drive cancellations and travel disruptions statewide, according to Connecticut Blood Center. That storm cost the state more than 1,500 donations and left the region with less than a two-day blood supply, well below the seven-day level needed to support local hospitals, the center said, adding that while regular operations had resumed, rebuilding inventory would take time.
For now, New York Blood Center is asking eligible donors to make an appointment at a donor center or community blood drive to help close the gap left by last weekend's storm. Donors can schedule an appointment or check eligibility guidelines by calling 1-800-933-2566, and recent updates to FDA guidance mean more people may now qualify to give than in the past, per SILive.com. Donors can give every 56 days, the outlet noted.
