Program launched to boost organ donation in NYC

Families choosing whether to donate a loved one's organs usually have days to grapple with their decision, all while the patient lies hooked up to machines in a hospital bed.

But they would have only about 20 minutes to make the choice in a new pilot program meant to recover organs from patients who die at home.

That's roughly how long a team of organ specialists will have after a cardiac-arrest patient is declared dead to arrive at the home, check a donor registry, determine medical eligibility, obtain a family member's consent and get the person into a specialized ambulance.

The program launching Tuesday - the first of its kind in the U.S., according to organizers and other experts - could eventually lead to thousands more organs donated each year nationwide.

But the six-month trial, a collaboration between Bellevue Hospital and New York City's police and fire departments, could be declared a success without a single organ being recovered, organizers say.

Instead, what's being tested is the ability of the team - composed of two EMTs, an organ donor family services specialist and a Bellevue emergency physician - to successfully interact with grieving and shocked family members in the limited time available before it is too late to use a person's organs. A police detective will arrive at the scene before the team to make sure there's nothing about the death that warrants a criminal investigation.

Of the roughly 50,000 people who died last year in downstate New York-area hospitals, about 600 were judged eligible to donate their organs. Of those, only 261 became donors, said Elaine Berg, the president and chief executive of the New York Organ Donation Network. - AP