Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The people of Western New York, once again, responded to the call of helping those in need.
In the minutes after the news broke of Friday's fatal tour bus crash on the New York State Thruway in the Town of Pembroke, ConnectLife received requests for nearly all its available blood from local hospitals preparing for the arrival of the patients.
In response, the blood bank texted all recent donors and also put out the urgent call publicly to help maintain the supply of blood locally, and the response was overwhelming.
"We had 124 donors on a Friday, which is much above what we usually would have. Saturday surpassed that in every way, we had 208 donors come in on Saturday. For perspective, that's about as many as we had on the previous three Saturdays combined. It's the second-biggest Saturday we have ever seen," said Zach Kineke from ConnectLife with WBEN. "We had workers coming in, our phlebotomists coming in on their days off to make sure that everyone who wanted to donate blood was able to. And between the donors and our phlebotomists, we cannot say thank you enough for what an amazing response we had."
ConnectLife also had 22 donors give blood at a rare Sunday drive, which is nearly twice as many as were expected to come.
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Kineke says the flood of donors started Friday, with workers staying well past closing time to make sure donors that were coming could donate the much-needed blood.
"I always think of that Mr. Rogers quote, where he talks about his mom saying, 'In times of need, you look for the helpers.' And Western New Yorkers really came through as the helpers this time," Kineke added.
ConnectLife was able to catch up with blood supply thanks to the generous help of the Western New York community over the weekend. Kineke adds that just about every appointment this week at every drive they have is full.
However, the need for blood is going to continue throughout the next few weeks, as ConnectLife and local hospitals restock from this sudden and urgent need.
"When we are able to catch up with this blood, that just means that, 'Alright, we've gotten back to a place where if there's another dire emergency like this, we'll be able to make sure there's blood at a hospital,'" Kineke said. "But there's always somebody else who gets in a car crash. There's always another mother who is having complications during childbirth and needs blood. We are making sure there's this constant flow of blood to ECMC and to Children's Hospital, and to Millard Filmore Suburban to make sure that these emergency needs are met."
Kineke says the need for blood donations is vital.
"Human blood does not have a medical substitute. The only way that somebody in this crash, or in any emergency getting the blood they need to survive is because of the amazing volunteer donors that we have across Western New York," he said. "That blood is only available for a certain number of weeks, so we can only plan a few weeks out and make sure that we have this stock built up. And if there's a week or two period where a certain blood type, people are on vacation or they aren't able to make it to blood drives, and this one blood type will get low, it means that somebody who comes into the hospital and needs blood might have a harder time getting the blood they need."
For anyone interested in donating blood, it only takes a few moments out of your day to help contribute and possibly save lives.
"No matter what type you are, you can make a difference in Western New York. Just 15 minutes, 20 minutes in a blood chair will mean three people can get the blood they need to survive right here in Western New York, because all blood donated with ConnectLife stays local," Kineke said.
And for those who donate, there is an added perk, especially if you're a big Buffalo Bills fan.
"For anyone who's interested, we have our suite seats promotion going right now. We are gathering names for our raffle at the end of the year, when one donor is going to win a suite for 16 people to the final Bills game at the home stadium, the final regular season game," Kineke noted. "Donate double reds once, whole blood twice, or platelets four times between now and the end of the year to get entered."
Platelet donation appointments are available at centers in Williamsville, West Seneca, Tonawanda and Lockport. To schedule an appointment, visit ConnectLifeGiveBlood.org or call (716)-529-4270.