MEDIA ADVISORY:

FIRE COMMISSIONER NICHOLAS SCOPPETTA
TO ANNOUNCE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP CAMPAIGN WITH
NEW YORK BLOOD CENTER

New campaign hopes to increase public awareness about blood donation needs

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta tomorrow will announce the kick-off of a community partnership campaign with the New York Blood Center at a blood drive at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Commissioner Scoppetta will be joined by New York Blood Center President Dr. Robert Jones, and Dr. Roger Yurt, Director of the Hearst Burn Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell, to unveil plans for a community outreach program through firehouses and EMS stations across the city. The goal of the program is to increase public awareness about the importance of blood donations, in particular, for burn victims. The Hearst Burn Center is one of the largest and busiest burn centers in the nation.

Throughout the years, the Fire Department has encouraged its members to donate blood as well as other blood products such as blood platelets and bone marrow. To date, the FDNY is the single-largest bone marrow registry group with more than 8,000 firefighters registered.

Contact: Francis X. Gribbon / Virginia Lam (FDNY) (718) 999-2056

http://www.nyc.gov/fdny