Issuu

QUARTER 1 • 2022

DONATION

Connection A newsletter for our frontline partners

Debuting Donation Connection

In This Issue MTN Updates National Donor Day/ Songs From the Heart. . .......................................2 Rose Parade Recap..............................................2 MTN EOY Data....................................................2 Upcoming Events............................................... 8

Funeral Home & Medical Examiner Partners Rose Parade..........................................................3 Donate Life America (DLA) at the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) Convention. . ...........................................3 Tissue Donor Embalming Lab by Vernie Fountain. . ............................................3

Hospital Partners OR Nursing Education. . ..................................... 4 ICU/ED Donation Education............................ 4 Respiratory Therapy Education: Investigate Before You Extubate...................... 4

elcome to Donation Connection, Midwest Transplant Network’s (MTN’s) newsletter for our frontline partners. Hospital; licensing, treasury and Department of Revenue; and funeral home and medical examiner staff members all play an integral role in the organ, eye and tissue donation process. Going forward, we will send you this newsletter quarterly to inform you about what is happening at MTN and in the donation industry as well as updates specific to your profession. While we hope you will read the whole newsletter, we will always color-code content to make it easy for you to identify the topics most immediately important to you and your team. • You can find general MTN updates in the purple section. • Hospital partner content will be in red. • Content for funeral home and medical examiner professionals will be in teal. • Licensing, treasury and Department of Revenue staff will find their topics in the orange section. We hope this information will help you feel even more connected to the mission of saving and enhancing lives through donation. Thank you for all you do in support of all donor heroes, transplant recipients and their families!

National Donate Life Month.. ........................... 4 2021: The Difference You Made......................... 5 Coming Summer 2022: MTN’s Donor Care and Surgical Recovery Unit.............................. 5 Midwest Transplant Network’s Online Hospital Partner Education................. 5

Licensing, Treasury and Department of Revenue Partners DLA Award Nominations.................................. 6 New Virtual Education Model Is Live.. ............ 6 National Donor Day........................................... 7 National Donate Life Month.. ........................... 7 Donor Registry Question in Kansas................ 7

Save the Date: Donate Life Legacy Walk

ark your calendar for Saturday, June 4, when MTN will host our annual Donate Life Legacy Walk. This free event brings together donor and recipient families as well as community partners and donation advocates to celebrate the gift of life. Registration opens Feb. 15: mwtn.org/legacy-walk

National Donor Day/Songs From the Heart

idwest Transplant Network will again partner with Kansas Citybased NPR music station 90.9 FM The Bridge in 2022 on a day of special programming called “Songs From the Heart.” Through this partnership, The Bridge airs several stories about people affected by organ, eye and tissue donation in all-day programming on or around National Donor Day (Feb. 14). We encourage you to tune in to the fifth annual Songs From the Heart program on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022. Listen in the Kansas City area on 90.9 FM or from anywhere online at bridge909.org.

Rose Parade Recap

idwest Transplant Network was proud to honor donor hero Christopher Hutson Jr at the 2022 Rose Parade® on New Year’s Day. “Little Chris,” as his family affectionately calls him, registered as an organ donor at a licensing office just four months prior to his tragic death at age 19. He ultimately saved seven lives through his organ donation. Last fall, Little Chris’ family came together to put the finishing touches on a portrait of their donor hero made entirely of organic materials called a floragraph that was featured on the Donate Life Rose Parade® float. Little Chris’ parents and brothers then traveled to Pasadena, California, to decorate the float — which featured Little Chris’ floragraph as well as others from various organ procurement organizations — and attend the parade as VIPs. Please join us in celebrating Little Chris and the lives he saved through his selfless gifts.

Maximizing the Gift of Life

ith your strong support, Midwest Transplant Network continued saving and enhancing more lives through organ, eye and tissue donation in 2021. Your commitment to the donation process helped save a record number of lives through organ donation. From asking donation-related questions for the First Person Authorization registry to sharing timely patient referrals to showing care and respect for donors after they gave the gift of life, you play a crucial role in providing glimmers of hope to those on the waitlist. Thank you for all you do!

2 • Learn more about organ, eye and tissue donation at mwtn.org

Rose Parade

or the first time in 2021, we expanded partner rose dedications for the Rose Dedication Garden on the Donate Life Rose Parade® float to our medical examiners in the Kansas City area. The garden provides an opportunity to honor donors, families, recipients, candidates waiting for a transplant and healthcare heroes who make transplants possible with a personalized rose placed in the Donate Life Float Rose Dedication Garden, inspiring millions of people nationwide to save and enhance lives as donors. We are thankful for our partnerships with medical examiners in honoring the gift of organ, eye and tissue donation. We are looking forward to offering this opportunity to more of our regional partners in 2022.

Donate Life America (DLA) at the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) Convention

LA sponsored a booth at the 2021 NFDA Expo in Nashville, Tennessee, from Oct. 17 – 20. DLA Funeral Home Liaisons provided education about and promotion of organ, eye and tissue donation with funeral directors.

Tissue Donor Embalming Lab by Vernie Fountain

s part of the 2021 NFDA Convention, Tennessee Donor Services and Tennessee Funeral Directors Association hosted a tissue donation embalming lab with Vernie Fountain. The all-day lab included a tissue recovery and embalming of the donor along with classroom instruction.

A newsletter for Midwest Transplant Network's frontline partners • 3

OR Nursing Education

rgan recovery is the final step in the donor process. Often, hospital staff members will hold what’s called an honor walk as the donor is transferred from the ICU to the OR.

ICU/ED Donation Education

TN has recently expanded our clinical triggers for potential organ referrals to ensure we maximize every possible lifesaving gift. While this is a nursing responsibility, anyone can initiate the referral to MTN. MTN must be notified within 60 minutes when a mechanically ventilated patient has ANY of the following: • A severe neurological injury or devastating illness

Here are some details about these meaningful events:

• A GCS of 5 or less

• Many OR staff observe an honor walk, while others may accompany the donor.

• Any talks of end-of-life planning or GIP hospice on ANY patient, regardless of diagnosis

• Just prior to entering the restricted OR doors, families are given a few moments to say goodbye to their loved one.

Also, please update MTN immediately if a mechanically ventilated patient has:

• MTN Family Services Coordinators will also fold the donor quilt that has been placed on their loved one and present it to the family just prior to the donor going to the surgical suite for recovery. • Although difficult, please walk slowly with the donor and his/ her/their family and ensure sensitivity as they say their final goodbye. We appreciate all that you do to provide compassionate care for donors and their families.

• A shift to end-of-life decisions, palliative care, GIP hospice consult or terminal extubation plans • Code status shifts to DNR or there is a deceleration in care • A code event, a deterioration of clinical status or a loss of neurological reflexes Please also update MTN promptly if a mechanically ventilated patient’s family asks about donation.

Respiratory Therapy Education: Investigate Before You Extubate • Respiratory therapists are an essential part of the donation process in the ICU and ED. • Your participation in terminal extubations is another opportunity to ensure that an MTN referral or update has been made. • Please investigate before you extubate: Ask your ED or critical care nurse if MTN has been updated prior to the terminal extubation of any patient in the ICU or ED. Thank you for your continued support and collaboration. Donation is simply not possible without you.

National Donate Life Month

very April, the United States celebrates National Donate Life Month (NDLM) to honor donors, recipients, their families and to educate the public. Please reach out to your Hospital Services Coordinator to arrange donation awareness activities and celebratory NDLM activities. Together, we save more lives!

4 • Learn more about organ, eye and tissue donation at mwtn.org

2021: The Difference You Made

TN expanded our referral criteria in 2021. The expanded criteria are the result of recognizing an increase in the number of family initiated donation discussions for patients without a neurological injury. We began tracking non-neurologically injured donation after circulatory death (DCD) data and outcomes from Jan. 1, 2020, through May 31, 2021, to see if there was an opportunity to save more lives — and there was. With 31 recovered organ donors out of 40 eligible organ donors (a 78% conversion rate) from ventilated patients suffering from interstitial lung disease, pneumonia, respiratory failure or COVID-19, with your help, we helped transplant an additional 39 organs during that timeframe! Starting July 1, 2021, the expanded criteria became our standard of practice. Doing so provided an increased opportunity for donor heroes and their families to create this legacy and save lives. Because of your great care and support of organ donation, an additional 41 organs were transplanted through December 2021 for a total of 80 based on these new criteria. We know we still have a lot of work to do, as we identified an additional 33 missed DCD eligible donors through retrospective medical record review. We need your help to educate and reinforce the new criteria that we know result in saving more lives. Thank you for all you do to support organ, eye and tissue donation!

Coming Summer 2022: MTN’s Donor Care and Surgical Recovery Unit

TN’s Donor Care and Surgical Recovery Unit (DCU) is nearing completion. Once fully functional, MTN will begin to transfer patients pronounced deceased by neurological criteria to the unit. Each donor will be evaluated for stability prior to transfer. We are hoping to transfer our first donors in early summer 2022.

General organ, eye and tissue education is just a click away! It is available for educational purposes directly from our website.

So, what will change for our hospital partners? We ask that you continue to make referrals when each patient meets clinical triggers and provide updates when a patient’s status deteriorates or when there is a shift to end-of-life planning. MTN will respond on site, complete donation authorization and begin donor evaluations. If the patient is determined to be stable following brain death testing, MTN’s clinical coordinator will arrange transfer to the DCU. MTN will be responsible for costs and logistics associated with donor transfer. Honor walks, if your facility holds them, will now go from ICU to the ambulance bay rather than to the OR. Together, we will continue care and management for all donation after circulatory death (DCD) patients at the hospital and through recovery. By transferring most brain-dead donors to the DCU, we hope to lessen some of the staffing burdens and additional OR hours donor cases generate. Thank you for your continued support of and collaboration with MTN.

Midwest Transplant Network’s Online Hospital Partner Education

The module is 19 minutes long. Following its conclusion, the viewer will be instructed to click on the quiz link below the video on MTN’s website to complete the education requirement. MTN will maintain a record of those who have completed the module and can provide it to your facility by request. Thank you for your engagement and commitment to donation education. Visit the module here: mwtn.org/hospital-education

A newsletter for Midwest Transplant Network's frontline partners • 5

DLA Award Nominations

e know there are many wonderful things happening around our service area led by our licensing, treasury and Department of Revenue office partners. Please share with us the wonderful things that you are all doing and consider submitting a nomination for a Donate Life America award. We have included descriptions of the awards below for your review. We look forward to hearing about the great things you have been doing in your community.

Innovation Award The Innovation Award recognizes a DMV or driver licensing partner (DLP) office(s) that has implemented a unique and engaging event, activity or practice that demonstrates how the Donate Life mission* is a part of their DMV or DLP office culture.

Lifesaver Award The Lifesaver Award recognizes a DMV or DLP staff member who demonstrates exceptional commitment to the DMV/DLP’s role as a partner in saving lives through support of the Donate Life mission*. DMV and DLP staff are invited to nominate their peers to be recognized for their inspiring work and dedication to increasing donor registrations. Submissions for both awards are due by Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022. Please reach out to Donor Designation Coordinator Elizabeth Gonzales-Manns at egonzales@mwtn.org with any questions. Submit a nomination online: donatelife.net/dmv-awards

*Donate Life America mission: committed to increasing the number of donated organs, eyes and tissue available to save and heal lives, while continuing to develop a culture where donation is embraced as a fundamental human responsibility

New Virtual Education Model Is Live

e are excited to announce that our new virtual education model for our licensing, treasury and Department of Revenue offices has gone live! If you have not yet had a chance to complete this short, informative training, we encourage you to do so. We will do a quarterly prize drawing for those who complete the training and provide their name when completing the quiz. Access the training here: mwtn.org/dmv

6 • Learn more about organ, eye and tissue donation at mwtn.org

Donor Registry Question in Kansas

National Donor Day

ational Donor Day, Feb. 14, 2022, is almost here. This year, we encourage you to share your donor hero stories from your local community in a creative way (i.e., display at your office, local newspaper article, etc.). Please submit your entries to egonzales@mwtn.org. MTN will share all entries on our social media pages, and we will give a special treat to participating offices. Submissions are due by Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 5 p.m.

National Donate Life Month

e are just a couple of months away from National Donate Life Month in April. We will be sending your office a package with printed materials, promotional items and a token of appreciation for all of your staff. We will share more information about contests and spirit week activities via the You Are Key at the DMV Facebook group (facebook.com/groups/youarekey); we will also send this information via email to your office contact. We are excited for a month of fun activities that help promote the mission of saving and enhancing lives. We look forward to partnering with all of you to help us celebrate these gifts of life and continue to share this lifesaving message. If you are interested in having an MTN volunteer Ambassador come out to your office to host a donation awareness booth, please email your Donor Designation Coordinator, egonzales@mwtn.org, to coordinate.

f you are in one of the licensing, treasury or Department of Revenue offices in the state of Kansas, you may have noticed that we have moved from two donation-related questions to one. The reason behind this change is to help ensure that those who wish to be registered donors will have their donor designation be known both through the state donor registry and the donor symbol added to their state credential. This will help eliminate any confusion on what their current registry status is, and it will also help ensure that their wishes are carried out should the opportunity arise. Thank you for asking this question of all your patrons to help ensure that they have the opportunity to designate their donation decision. If you have any questions about this change, please contact your Donor Designation Coordinator, Elizabeth Gonzales-Manns, at egonzales@mwtn.org.

A newsletter for Midwest Transplant Network's frontline partners • 7

Mission Saving lives by honoring the gift of donation with dignity and compassion

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1900 W. 47th Place, Suite 400 Westwood, KS 66205

Vision Leading organ and tissue donation through excellence, quality and partnerships

Follow Us /MidwestTransplantNetwork /MidwestTransplantNetwork /MidwestTransplantNetwork @MWTransplant Midwest Transplant Network

Upcoming Events Event Audience Key General MTN Funeral Home & Medical Examiner Partners

February Monday, Feb. 14, 2022 • Songs From the Heart on National Donor Day Tune in to The Bridge on National Donor Day to hear stories about people affected by organ, eye and tissue donation. For more information or to listen: bridge909.org

April

Hospital Partners

April 1 - 30, 2022 • National Donate Life Month

Licensing, Treasury and Department of Revenue Partners

Observed every April, National Donate Life Month helps raise awareness about donation, encourage donor registrations and honor all donor heroes. For more information: mwtn.org/ndlm Friday, April 22, 2022 • National Donate Life Blue & Green Day

View all upcoming events: mwtn.org/events

Wear blue and green and share importance of registering as a donor. For more information: donatelife.net/blue-green-day

May May 1 – 4, 2022 • Tri-State Funeral Directors Convention Overland Park, Kansas Register: ksfda.org