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McCook Gazette

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Editorial

Hospital Association taking lead in effort for organ donation

Wednesday, March 23, 2011
McCook Daily Gazette

How many television and movie dramas use waiting for an organ donation as a key part of the plot? How many of us know someone facing just such a need in real life?

We won't have to look far, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which says more than 100,000 men, women and children currently need life-saving organ transplants.

According to statistics:

* Every 10 minutes another name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list.

* An average of 18 people die each day from the lack of available organs for transplant.

* In 2009, there were 8,021 deceased organ donors and 6,610 living organ donors resulting in 28,465 organ transplants.

* Last year, more than 42,000 grafts were made available for transplant by eye banks within the United States.

* According to research, 98 percent of all adults have heard about organ donation and 86 percent have heard of tissue donation.

* 90 percent of Americans say they support donation, but only 30 percent know the essential steps to take to be a donor.

The Nebraska Hospital Association is trying to change those statistics, through the launch of Donor Drive 2011, a statewide collaborative with Nebraska Organ Recovery System to add 80,000 names to the Donor Registry of Nebraska. Efforts to sign up new donors in 2011 are aimed to help bolster the pool of potential organ and tissue donors in Nebraska.

"This initiative was created to help improve and extend the lives of Nebraskans by increasing public and professional participation in organ and tissue donation for transplantation," stated Laura J. Redoutey, FACHE, president of the Nebraska Hospital Associaiton.

As part of the campaign, Nebraska hospitals are being asked to achieve a goal of adding one name to the registry for every two employees. Hospitals are encouraged to recruit employees, family members, neighbors, friends and colleagues. Statewide, the NHA and NORS have set a goal of 80,000 new registrants from the collective efforts of Nebraska hospitals.

There's no age limit for signing up, and the NHA is encouraging individuals to help the 927 residents of Nebraska waiting for a transplant by adding their name to the Donor Registry of Nebraska.

For more information, or to join the registry, visit www.NEdonordrive.com

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  • Your story about Organ Donation highlighted the tragic shortage of human organs for transplant operations.

    There are now over 110,000 people on the National Transplant Waiting List, with over 50% of these people dying before they get a transplant. Most of these deaths are needless. Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year.

    There is a simple way to put a big dent in the organ shortage -- give donated organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die.

    Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. Everyone who is willing to receive should be willing to give.

    Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling

    1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition. LifeSharers has over 14,500 members as of this writing, including 32 members in Nebraska.

    Please contact me - Dave Undis, Executive Director of LifeSharers - if your readers would like to learn more about our innovative approach to increasing the number of organ donors. I can arrange interviews with some of our local members if you're interested. My email address is daveundis@lifesharers.org. My phone number is 615-351-8622.

    -- Posted by LIFESHARERS on Thu, Mar 24, 2011, at 11:45 AM
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