On March 13, 1964, 38 people witnessed twenty-eight-year-oldCatherine Genovese being sexually assaulted and stabbed. Only oneperson called the police during the half hour long attack. Thecaller admitted that he ‘had phoned only after much thoughtand an earlier phone call to a friend. I didn’t want to getinvolved.’
Appalling? Before diagnosing those paralyzed onlookers withmoral deficiency; here’s an uncomfortable question, whatwould you really do? On March 13th this nice middle-class area ofQueens was the birth place of the theory of diffusion ofresponsibility or the bystander effect.
I expect to lose the rational skeptics right about now, butdon’t be too hasty to shrug and claim immunity. I mentionthis crippling phenomenon, because it is epitomized by theindifference that magnifies the Blood Shortage in Long Island andthe Metropolitan area.
Please recall the last time you speed walked by a blood drive,or glazed over that poster of a little girl with a captionnotifying you that local hospitals will have to cancel surgeries ifsuch a blood crisis continues. Did you murmur ‘Theydon’t really need me to get involved or donate blood, I amsure someone else will,’ and thus consoled, continue the restof your day after murder? Yes, your placidness has resulted inmurder!
I want this article to snap your cushioned senses into awarenesswith as much force as blaring fire alarms shatter the comfortablesilence of ignorance. This IS AN EMERGENCY and your actions cansave lives! The metropolitan area, including Long Island, isexperiencing a 25% loss of blood supply due to the recent Mad Cowdisease scare that has resulted in a ban on European blood. This,along with the higher standards imposed by the FDA to screen foreligible donors, and lower blood donations during holiday andsummer seasons has left an emaciated Blood Bank unprepared to saveYOUR life if tragedy were to strike. Stony Brook Hospital’sgrowing neo-natal, cardiac and L-1 cancer institutions predict arise in average blood transfusions from the typical 4000 to 5000patients per year. The New York Blood Center pleads for yourempathy with statistics such as: nine out of ten people will need atransfusion at some point in their lives.
There is no practicable substitute for blood and blood products,and their short shelf life, ranging from 5 to 42 days, necessitates’a long term relationship and commitment from donors’argues Jennifer Peace, donor recruiter at Stony Brook University.Why does banal tradition demand consuming ridiculous amounts ofalcohol on one’s 21st birthday, but does not reinforcedonating blood after one turns 17? If you would not hesitate toreceive a blood transfusion under dire circumstances, you cannot,with clear conscience, hesitate to donate blood when in goodhealth.
Donor Requirements include being 17-75 years of age, a minimumweight 110 pounds and general good health.
Remember, one donation can save up to three lives! Even if youare unable to donate blood due to medical reasons, you can alwayshelp by telling others. The intimate setting at Stony Brook’sBlood Bank Center offers the necessary care and support for firsttime donors. If you are interested in donating, volunteering orinterning with the blood bank please contact Jennifer Peace at631-444-7586 or email [email protected].
Mon. – Fri.: 7:45 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Saturday: 8:45 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
