Red Cross Glitch Overbooks Phillies' Blood Drive, Sending Some Away
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A blood drive last Sunday sponsored by the Philadelphia Phillies drew lots of donors. Too many, in fact.
This was the seventh annual Phillies' blood drive, and the largest to date according to Anthony Tornetta, a spokesman for the American Red Cross, which ran the event.
Tornetta says more than 2,000 people turned out at Citizens Bank Park, causing long delays and forcing organizers to turn some people away.
"We actually had a glitch in our system when we were recruiting or signing up donors," he says. "We overbooked the schedule. We didn't find out until (last) Thursday, but we became proactive and tried to call those we overbooked."
But not everyone received the call, and some headed to the ballpark only to find out they would not be giving blood.
Tornetta says Red Cross officials are now examining the system to find out what can be done to avoid such problems in the future.
Reported by Lynne Adkins, KYW Newsradio 1060
