Nurses Begin Strike; Blood Supplies OK

In the first strike of its kind in Southern California, more than 100 nurses began picketing the Los Angeles-Orange County Regional American Red Cross Blood Services headquarters Sunday morning.

A survey of major hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties indicated that there was an adequate supply of blood on hand Sunday, but the UC Irvine Medical Center put out a call for blood donors as a precautionary measure.

Red Cross spokeswoman Gerry Sohle said the 200 hospitals served by the regional organization reported at least “100% of the desired level” of blood on their shelves.

Stockpile Called Sufficient

In addition, she said, “150% of the desired level” is in stock at the regional system’s depots in Long Beach, West Covina and Van Nuys.

The 225 members of Service Employees International Union Local 535 voted Saturday to strike the two-county blood bank system.

In addition to the 100 pickets who showed up at the Red Cross’ Vermont Avenue headquarters in Los Angeles on Sunday, another 25 marched outside the Van Nuys Red Cross Donor Facility during the day.

“Strike support is very strong,” said Teresa Conrow, spokeswoman for the union.

But, she added, “We hope we can get to the bargaining table as soon as we can.”

As of late Sunday no new negotiating session had been scheduled, however.

Sohle said the Red Cross’ “final economic offer” was made Wednesday with across-the-board raises of 4% on a three-year contract.

The union asked for raises of 6% in the first year, 5.5% in the second and 5% in the third.

Red Cross nurses “make considerably less than other nursing staff” in the area, according to the union.

Conrow said that in addition to salaries, the ratio of nurses to donors is one of the union’s key issues.

“In the past, the Red Cross had staffed about one nurse for every three donors,” Conrow said. “Now there’s been a very great increase in the amount of time it takes (for a donation to be given) . . . and in the last six months . . . they’ve been using one nurse for four donors.”

She said nurses must take more time “because of (current) concern about the safety of the blood supply.”

“Our nurses have to take the time to talk and to get a full history of the patient,” Conrow said. “If they’re rushed and don’t have time to do that, they endanger the blood supply.”

Screening of blood donors and testing of blood have become crucial because of the threat of the fatal acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

But Red Cross’ Sohle said the primary issue in the strike “is the desire (of the union) to usurp management’s privilege to manage.”

Sohle said that “staffing is a management prerogative,” adding that “our nurses are not being asked to do anything that blood service nurses everywhere across the country are doing.”

The Red Cross said Saturday that administrative personnel will continue to collect and process blood.

But, Sohle said 11 scheduled mobile blood unit visits were canceled Sunday, and another 20 scheduled for today have also been canceled.

“After that (today), we will go on with business as usual,” Sohle said.

Ligaya Fontanilla, head nurse in one of the blood center’s units, said “it’s just not true” that administrative personnel can substitute for regular staffers in handling donors. “They haven’t handled needles in years,” she said.

Although several of the largest hospitals, including the giant Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, could not be reached for comment on blood supplies Sunday, others said they had “adequate amounts” available at least for the moment.

“We have an adequate supply for the rest of the week except for a shortage of A-positive blood,” said a nurse at Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center. A staffer at Good Samaritan said, “We have enough for now, but I don’t know about the next few days.” At the UCLA Medical Center, a staff member said a sufficient supply of blood was on hand.

At UCI Medical Center in Orange, spokeswoman Elaine Beno said, “We have a full inventory of blood for a couple of weeks,” but she urged volunteers “to come in an donate blood” to avoid a possible crisis.

There was no immediate threat because of the strike, Beno said, but medical center officials wished to prevent any crisis at the 488-bed teaching hospital and trauma center.

The medical center normally gets most of its blood from Red Cross, although typically some comes from community blood banks and 10% comes from the hospital’s own donor center, Beno said. She asked interested donors to call 714-643-LIFE to make an appointment.

At three trauma centers in Orange County--Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, Mission Community Hospital in Mission Viejo and Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center--officials said they had plenty of blood on hand and weren’t immediately concerned about the strike.

“At the moment we have a full inventory--for at least a week,” said Gail Taylor, blood bank supervisor for Mission Community Hospital. “If the strike lasts more than a day or two, we’ll have to handle that and find ways of getting our own blood.” If the hospital must find its own donors, Taylor wasn’t worried. “I think people would rise to the occasion,” she said.

At Western Medical Center, transfusion services supervisor Wylen Won said he had heard that the strike probably would not affect “red cell products,” although it might limit the supply of platelets.

But if there were shortages in blood, Won said he believed that he could get blood supplies from other local blood banks that were not affiliated with the Red Cross--either through the San Bernardino’s blood bank or United Blood Services in Ventura.

At St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, where officials said there was only a two-day supply of blood on hand, no one was worried yet. “Not to downplay the situation, but it’s not that critical,” public information officer Dennis Gaschen said.

St. Joseph administrators would be meeting Monday to discuss the implications of the strike, Gaschen said, but for the moment the hospital would not postpone elective surgeries or take any other action.