The New York Times - August 28, 1983
Gary Kriss

"Normally we see a summer shortage of blood starting about the Fourth of July," explained Michael C. Scahill, a spokesman for the Greater New York Blood Program, which, through its Valhalla-based Hudson Valley Blood Service, covers Westchester. "This year it started earlier, in June."

According to Mr. Scahill, yearly blood donations within the seven-county Hudson Valley division, which, in addition to Westchester, includes Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange, Sullivan and Ulster Counties, average 172 pints a day. During the summer, that number is generally anywhere from 5 to 7 percent lower. This year, however, the decrease was 14 to 16 percent and Mr. Scahill said that "some of that extra 9 percent has to be attributed to AIDS," or acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Specifically, he said that many people felt that AIDS could be spread from the needles used to draw blood. Officials have tried to dispel what they say is an erroneous belief, pointing out that each needle is used only once then discarded, but they concede that their efforts have not totally succeeded.

"There are still some new and would-be donors who are unsure," Mr. Scahill said, but added that "we're climbing back" in terms of donations. He credited this, in part, to "the coverage in the media regarding the safety of giving blood." Still, he warned that "any number of factors could reverse the positive steps we've taken" and indicated that the situation still remained potentially dangerous.

Although all of Westchester's hospitals draw a certain amount of their blood from the Hudson Valley Blood Service, some are classified as "affiliates," maintaining their own blood banks to supply part of their needs. As a result, they have encountered some of the same problems resulting from the public perception of AIDS.

"We were aware that blood donations had dropped off by 20 percent in New York City, so we acted quickly," said Ruth Kitchen, director of public relations for the New Rochelle Hospital Medical Center which supplies about 3,500 pints, or 85 percent of its yearly blood needs through local drives. "We wanted to reassure people that they can't get AIDS from giving blood."

Medical center officials also wanted to allay staff fears about contact with AIDS victims. During the last few months, the institution has had two suspected and one confirmed cases of the disease, and Mrs. Kitchen said, "The whole idea of treating AIDS patients was causing concern, particularly among nurses and technicians."

So a few weeks ago, John W. Thatcher, acting chief of the New York City Health Department's Venereal Disease Education Unit, was brought in to conduct two seminars on AIDS for employees and community members. Between 600 and 700 people heard Mr. Thatcher discuss the difficulties in contracting AIDS through ordinary contact and attempt to dispel fears that the disease could be acquired through blood donations.

"I think they've been successful," Mrs. Kitchen said of Mr. Thatcher's lectures. "Our blood donations have not decreased." However, she noted that the medical center had mounted a special push this summer because of the AIDS scare and that it had benefited from the Robert W. Lalli Memorial Blood Campaign, a yearly event where about 300 area people each donate a pint of blood in memory of a young New Rochelle resident killed some years ago in an accident.

"That helped offset things," Mrs. Kitchen said. "But we're never complacent about blood, donations, and now, with AIDS, we're particularly concerned. That's why we held the programs to try and scotch any fears." The sessions, which were video-taped for showing to staff members who could not attend, will also be broadcast this fall on cable television and will be made available to other hospitals, Mrs. Kitchen said.

But not all area hospitals with blood banks are encountering donation difficulties. For example, neither Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in North Tarrytown nor the White Plains Hospital Medical Center have experienced any decreases in donations this summer, according to their spokesmen. However, Cathy McCabe, a representative of United Hospital in Port Chester which supplies 75 percent of its own blood needs, said, "Yes, there has been a decrease here although it's hard to attribute it to AIDS." However, she noted that "donors have been telling our staff that they know of other people who have not been coming in because they were afraid of AIDS."

Clair G. Lamberti, director of public relations for Yonkers General Hospital, said, "It's safe to say that there has been a definite drop-off in donations at our hospital probably caused by the hysteria of AIDS." And Karen Tucciarone, a spokesman for St. Agnes Hospital in White Plains, said that blood donations at her institution "have dropped off because of AIDS somewhat, but not a lot."

But most hospitals, including those that have not reported donation decreases, have designed campaigns to combat the confusion surrounding AIDS. And if some people are still leery about giving blood, others remain hesitant about receiving it, at least from unknown donors. Consequently, some patients have requested that transfusions come only from family members and friends, a practice that, officials say, could pose long-term problems.

"The fear on the part of patients is certainly understandable," Mr. Scahill said, adding that "we tell people that we don't handle designated blood. It puts an undue amount of pressure on people, especially those who might fall into a high-risk category."

Most of the demands, however, are coming on the local level and Mr. Scahill conceded that it was more difficult for a hospital to refuse insistant patients, despite the fact that both the American Association of Blood Banks and the American Red Cross have come out strongly against designated donations.

"We have had several people coming into the hospital for elective surgery who have said that they would like a family member to donate blood for their use," said Dr. William Schraft, director of the New Rochelle Hospital Medical Center's laboratories and blood bank. Dr. Schraft said he has tried to convince these patients that "our blood comes from the community and is good and that anyone suspected of having AIDS has been screened out."

However, some remain intractable. "I hate to do it," Dr. Schraft said of agreeing to designated donations." All my professional associations deplore it, and I deplore it. But if patients are supported by their personal physicians and their families and can produce donors on the spot, I can't say absolutely no."

Other area hospitals also report similar patient requests, and while they, too, try to discourage designated donations, they generally accede to the demands of adament patients. But Mrs. Kitchen said that should the practice continue and grow, "it would destroy the blood-bank system, which is not set up that way." Mr. Scahill agreed that the spread of designated donations could pose "a potential threat" and said he expected legal challenges by some people who feel they have a right to specify blood recipients.

Many area hospitals, however, do encourage autologous donations -- the giving of one's own blood before surgery -- as a sound medical practice. "Certainly there is no better blood for you than your own," said Mrs. Kitchen, whose institution has run an autologous blood program for a number of years. "But that's different from designated donations. Designated donations are like an ativistic reversion to a tribal kind of thing. In the end, they hurt everybody."

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