NYC NOW - January 15, 2024 : Midday News

Episode Date: January 15, 2024

Blood banks say there’s a shortage in New York. WNYC Host David Furst talks to Dr. Christopher Hillyer the CEO and President of the New York Blood Center to learn more. Happy Martin Luther King , Jr. Day. And remember what the doctor said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Junae Pierre. Happy MLK Day. Heads up, we're doing just one episode today because of the holiday. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. Mayor Eric Adams says he will spare public libraries from the next round of budget cuts to avoid shortening their hours any further. Libraries are a lifeline to countless communities. and the great equalizers.

And thanks to careful planning and responsible, effective management, we are going to pass a balanced budget that still meets the needs of broken class New Yorkers. Mayor Adams posted the announcement online last night. Hours after WNYC reported multiple sources as saying he would not seek more cuts in his upcoming preliminary budget. City Hall is planning to impose curfews on four migrant respite centers starting tomorrow. Officials say that roughly 1900 adult asylum seekers staying at the centers, including one in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and two in Queens, will need to be checked in nightly between 11 at night and 6 in the morning. Those who violate the curfew without being issued an exemption pass three times in a 30-day period may be removed from the center.

New York City says it's installing speed governors on 50 public school. buses to improve safety that technology prevents a vehicle from accelerating past the speed limit. The city says the intelligence speed assistance pilot program already has produced results with other government vehicles, incidents where a driver had to slam on the brakes dropped by a third. 29 went possibly with some snow showers in the area, mostly cloudy today, low 30s for high, real feel closer to 20 to 25, and then tonight after midnight snow is likely. for a low, maybe one to two inches. Michael Hill, WNMIC News.

Up next, blood banks say there's a shortage in New York. That's after the break. Last September, both the New York Blood Center and the Red Cross declared a blood shortage emergency. Although November saw the highest blood donations in New York since 2018, there remains a significant need for more donors. So what's different this time? For more, my colleague David First sat with Dr. Christopher Hillier, the CEO and president of the New York Blood Center. Well, I think coming out of COVID has been very tricky, especially for the New York City region. Not as many people were in high schools and universities for the last couple of years, and many people were remote and remain remote.

And so those locations that we typically run blood drives in were not available. So we've lost about 10% of our blood donors, or for the younger people, about 50% of blood donors. Now, when we're talking about a blood shortage, maybe you can explain exactly what that means. Is it that the rate of donation is below what hospitals need? That's exactly right. We need between 1,000 and 2,000 units to be donated per day. And the blood lasts only for about a month in the refrigerator.

And as it perishes, it needs to be replaced, or as it's utilized, it needs to be replaced. And there are times of greater utilization with greater surgeries and births and cancer therapy. And then there are times where it's very logistically challenging for people to get out to go donate. So if it's cold or if there's a cold and flu season or if there's not a donor center in your neighborhood. And does that mean that the blood is also in short supply right now? The blood is in short supply right now. You know, we always worry about saying it's emergent because it's not at an emergent level and we don't want people to feel unsafe in the city. I mean, this is a health care resource and without it, the city really doesn't function as well.

And the hospitals don't function. But we obviously must have enough blood. And we do have enough blood. But I would say barely have enough blood. If you look back at last week, we were 10% under the necessary number of collections. And if that continues week after week, then we have a significant and urgent blood shortage. The New Jersey Health Network, R.W.J. Barnabas Health sent out an urgent plea in December, citing a severe shortage statewide this winter. They note the shortage was driven by a surge in

COVID cases, but say that it's exacerbated by an annual decrease in donations during the winter. Is there some system-level change that needs to happen so that blood banks aren't regularly in this situation and forced to beg for donors? That's a terrific question. I'm really not sure that we know what the system-level change would be, but ideally more people would be aware that they are able to donate, that we appreciate their donation, and that their donation is used and never wasted. So about two-thirds of people are eligible to give blood. Most people don't think that that's that high, but it is that high, about 66%. But only about 1 in 30 actually gives. So if we could make it 2 in 30 or 3 in 30,

then we could bring up the blood supply to a point where it was always available. And availability is critical. Well, the federal food and drug administration recently removed a major barrier to donating blood, opening it up to gay and bisexual men who were previously excluded. So who is eligible now? Who is a good candidate? Yeah. So I'm very glad you pointed that out.

And the New York Blood Center has been an advocate for decades to try and have that restriction lifted. And so in September, they changed so that all people are potentially. potentially able donors, and we do individual analysis of each donor to make sure that it's safe for the blood supplies. How about who should not donate blood or maybe be very careful? I think the biggest category of those people, David, are people who have been recently ill. So if you've had COVID or the flu and you've had a fever, we don't let people donate for 72

hours. People need to be off antibiotics unless they're on a standard antibiotic for, um, uh, uh, you're on a standard antibiotic for acne and things like that. But as long as people are healthy, have to be 16 or 17, 16-year-old with parental consent. If you're over 76 and want to donate, need physician approval. But in between 17 and 76-year-old, almost everybody is available to donate. That's my colleague David First, in conversation with Dr. Christopher Healyer, CEO and president of the New York Blood Center.

Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day. I'm Junae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.