Nurse Debbie Silpa awaits for donors at the Brooklyn pop-up blood center at 309 Atlantic Ave. Photo by Ximena Del Cerro
COURIER LIFE, FEBRUARY 11-17, 2022 5
As the daily number of
new COVID cases narrows,
people are now scheduling
needed medical procedures
that had been postponed for
months — and hospitals are
using much more blood than
they did even pre-pandemic,
according to Cefarelli.
Winter Storm Kenan,
which dumped close to a
foot of snow in most parts
of the borough, did some
harm, she said. Blood centers
across the city typically
collect about 1,000 blood donations
on Saturdays. On
Jan. 29, an estimated 77 donations
came in across the
Five Boroughs.
On Wednesday, frigid
weather led to closing schools
and highways, fl ight cancellations
across many states —
and even threatened to take
down power lines and cause
outages in Texas.
Now, the storm that left
Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas
City under a foot of snow
might cause dangerous accumulations
of ice in New York.
People who have to stay outside
are at risk of suffering
injuries and needing procedures
that could be delayed
for an absence of blood reserves.
The National Weather Service
is warning drivers of
dangerous conditions on the
roads and recommends extra
caution over the weekend.
Here is our latest briefi ng
on the wintry mix expected
late tonight through early
Friday evening. Dangerous
travel conditions are of primary
concern where ice accretes
during both the morning
and evening commute
on Friday. #NYCwx #NYwx
#CTwx #NJwx pic.twitter.
com/iCg6uLlcgV
— NWS New York NY (@
NWSNewYorkNY) February
3, 2022
Gov. Kathy Hochul has already
relocated some plow
drivers on Long Island to
parts of the state that could
receive a foot or more of snow.
For the last 14 days, after
the news on the national
blood crisis spread, more
blood donors showed up.
“It seemed like a nobrainer
to me,” said Gabriel
Berlind, 35, at a Feb. 2 blood
drive in Boerum Hill, hosted
by the NYBC. Berlind said he
became a regular donor after
hearing about the blood
shortage back in 2020.
“To donate means such a
dramatic conversion, as in,
no harm to me, but a huge
benefi t to a few other people,”
he told Brooklyn Paper.
Blood shortages were common
in December and January
even before the pandemic
because of school vacations
and people celebrating the
holidays, but this year’s dip
is expected to last longer, according
to NYBC staff members.
Omicron has caused a
shortage of staff. Available
nurses frequently have to
move from one center to another
to cover shifts.
“We are tired, but we know
what the mission is and so, we
try to make it work and save
a life,” said Tamara Scarlett
Whyte, team leader at
the Brooklyn pop-up blood
center. “When it was busy,
we had a long line outside
of donors wanting to donate
plasma, red cells or whatever
we were in need of.”
In Brooklyn, she said, it
can get as bad as to only getting
six donations per day.
“At one point it was getting
better when the fi rst COVID
variant was dying down,”
Scarlett-Whyte said, “but
when Omicron hit, it went
down again, so any time we
get our hopes up, something
happens.”
To fi nd Blood Center locations,
blood drive dates and to
schedule an appointment, visit
donate.nybc.org. Walk-ins are
welcome.
/donate.nybc.org