Eager donors overwhelm Red Cross system

BY NATHAN LITTLEFIELD

REBECCA ROSENTHAL/YH Potential blood donors braved hours-long waiting lines at Yale-New Haven Hospital on Wed., Sept. 12, but Red Cross officials emphasized the need for donations in the coming weeks.

"When we arrived at 7:45 a.m., there was already an hour-and-a-half wait," Carla Federman, SY '04, said of her attempt to donate blood at the Omni-New Haven on Wed., Sept. 12. Many Yale students attempting to give blood in the aftermath of Tuesday's terrorist attacks had a similar experience. The second floor of the hotel was filled with potential donors—among them Yale students, New Haven residents, and delegates attending a union convention taking place at the Omni. Although the drive began at 8 a.m., a long line had already formed from the donation room, through a waiting room, and out into a hallway by the time Federman and her friends arrived. "It seemed like they had enough people in line, and we all had things we needed to take care of, so we left," she explained.

Even if she had stayed, chances are she would not have had a chance to give blood. By 8:30 a.m., the line had almost doubled in size. Red Cross volunteers moved up and down, looking for donor cards and asking donors if they had traveled outside the U.S. recently. As is standard practice for the Red Cross, some were immediately disqualified if they had visited a malarial area or spent more than six months in the United Kingdom. Students at Yale, Quinnipiac University, and Connecticut College were encouraged to wait for upcoming drives at their schools. Still, few people left and the line kept growing. At 9 a.m., the blood drive coordinator pointed to a man about 40 feet from the waiting room and said, "See that bald gentleman over there? From that point on, there's a two-hour wait."

After another hour and a half, the coordinator repeated her request for students to wait for another drive. "We're going to need blood two weeks from now, two months from now," she said. "If you are a college student, we're pleading with you to donate later and allow people who have taken time off from work to give blood today." The wait, she informed the many people in the waiting room, most of whom had arrived during the drive's first half hour, would be at least another three hours. Furthermore, the center could handle only 80 pints of blood, and 360 people had already shown up by 10:30 a.m.

Wednesday's blood drive at Yale-New Haven Hospital received a similarly overwhelming response. Hospital spokesman Mark D'Antonio reported that 350 pints of blood were collected over the course of the day. And unlike the Omni, the hospital had sufficient capacity to handle every eligible donor who walked through the door. The response impressed D'Antonio tremendously. "Even with the wait and the crowd, there was never a cross word," he said. "Nobody worried about waiting. I think that shows remarkable resolve among the staff and the donors."

The outpouring of donations in New Haven was part of a surge throughout Connecticut and the nation. Guy Sunny, executive director of the South Central Connecticut chapter of the Red Cross, estimated they received 700 calls and walk-ins on Tues., Sept. 11 and a similar number on Wed., Sept. 12. The chapter was able to ship 3,200 pints of blood on Tuesday alone. Across the country, the Red Cross's donation hotline received over one million calls within 36 hours of the attack. "I think we've met the immediate need," he said. "But after this, it will be there for weeks and months, maybe even a year." There is extra demand for blood types O+, O-, AB-, and B-.

Nonetheless, Sunny said that because of logistical constraints, the chapter is not planning to step up its usual schedule of blood drives. After being drawn, blood must be shipped to a center in Dedham, Mass. for processing before it can proceed via military transport to its destination. The system is stretched as far as it can go. However, the Red Cross stands by its ban on importing blood from Europe, a measure enacted this summer to protect against the transmission of Kreuzfeld-Jakob disease. It will proceed with regular drives, and Sunny hopes that people turned away in the past few days will attend. The chapter headquarters on 570 Whitney Ave. accepts donations every Friday from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Drives are also scheduled for 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Tues., Sept. 18 at the Connecticut State Financial Center, located at 157 Church St., and from 8 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. on Wed., Sept. 19 at the Yale School of Nursing.

These drives should see many Yalies in attendance. Federman plans to donate either on Friday or at a later date. And donating blood offers many students a chance to extend some help to the victims of Tuesday's attack. As Emily Primps, DC '03, who was turned away from the Omni but plans to donate, said, "I'm from just outside New York—I wish there were more I could do, but this is something."

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