New York's Senator
CHARLES E. SCHUMER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 16, 2001

SCHUMER APPLAUDS NEW YORKERS' RESPONSE TO BLOOD EMERGENCY, ENCOURAGES CONTINUED DONATIONS

Senator's visit to New York Blood Center spurs record-setting response

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today praised New Yorkers for their overwhelming response to his call to action in the face of the severe blood shortage facing New York City and Long Island. According to the New York Blood Center, incoming calls hit a record high last week following the Senator's July 1 visit to the center and the announcement of his five-point plan to combat the current shortage.

While the Blood Center typically receives 200-300 calls per day, calls for Monday, July 2, numbered 1,424, the highest number ever logged by the New York Blood Center in a single day. Eight hundred and seventy calls were received on Tuesday, July 3, and following the July 4^th holiday, the Blood Center recorded 686 calls on Thursday, July 5. Four hundred thirty-eight calls were logged on Friday, July 6.

"New Yorkers really stepped up to the plate to help combat the blood shortage and I can't thank them enough," Schumer said. "While this is a great first step, it's only a first step. Just 2 percent of eligible New Yorkers donate blood, and if we want to ensure we have the blood supply we need, we all need to do better."

Schumer visited the New York Blood Center after the Food and Drug Administration indicated it may ban the importation of blood from Europe to avoid possible contamination by variant Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease, the human version of mad cow disease. This ban on "Euroblood" would cut New York City's blood supply by approximately 25%. In addition, people who traveled or lived in Britain for three months or more from 1980 to 1996, or spent five years in Europe since 1980 to today would also be declared ineligible to donate blood.

"We are very grateful to Senator Schumer for his support and efforts to increase awareness of our community's critical blood shortage. His personal involvement has no doubt motivated many New Yorkers to roll up their sleeves to give the gift of life," said Dr. Robert Jones, President & CEO, New York Blood Center.

During his visit, Schumer announced a five-part plan to combat New York's blood shortage that includes:

1. Calling on HHS to declare a Blood Shortage Emergency in the New York metropolitan area, effective immediately.
2. Calling on HHS to immediately allocate $10 million to be used for a widespread campaign to promote blood donation, including public service announcements; subway, bus, and commuter rail posters; newspaper ads and billboards; and to purchase of 10 new mobile donating vehicles to make donating blood as convenient as possible.
3. Calling on HHS to create a taskforce to develop an intense, sustained national effort to bolster awareness of the dire need for regular blood donation, and encourage a culture of responsibility around the practice.
4. Urging President Bush and Governor Pataki to offer compensatory time to state and federal government employees in New York City and Long Island offices in exchange for donating blood. This would mirror the New York City Employee Blood Program, which offers city employees three hours of compensatory time that can be used at a later date in return for donating blood. Schumer also urged government officials to donate space within their buildings for temporary use by the New York Blood Center for blood collection, and called on local business leaders to consider adopting similar compensatory programs to encourage their employees to donate blood.
5. Encouraging research efforts directed at improving our understanding of how mad cow disease and other emerging diseases may be carried in our blood and expanding research and development toward ensuring a safe and adequate blood supply, including technology to extend the shelf life of human blood and improve the efficiency of blood collection.

Anyone eligible to donate should call the New York Blood Center toll-free at 1-800-933-BLOOD.

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