Wisconsin a leader in organ transplants

[okarol]

Published - Thursday, October 18, 2007


Wisconsin a leader in organ transplants
   
Wisconsin might lead the nation in consumption of brats, fried cheese curds and beer, but the state’s residents also have given the governor something he can really brag about.

Gov. Jim Doyle recently announced that Wisconsin leads the country in organ donation. In 2006 alone, 767 organ transplants were completed in Wisconsin.

Doyle made the announcement during the 14th annual Gift of Life Medal Ceremony to honor families whose departed loved ones donated their organs.

The Wisconsin conversion rate is 83 percent, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. The conversion rate denotes the number of times organ transplants occur out of all cases in which transplants are possible. The national conversion rate is 63 percent.

“I’m proud that Wisconsin is leading the country in organ donation,” Doyle said. “Demand for organ donation increases minute by minute, and the choices made by loved ones to share the gift of life can have a life-altering effect on recipients and their families.

“We must remain committed to raising awareness about the importance of organ donation and ensuring that people’s wishes are known to their loved ones,” he added.

For the past 14 years, Wisconsin governors have hosted the Gift of Life Medal Ceremony to give transplant recipients the opportunity to express their appreciation to organ donor families and encourage even more of Wisconsin’s citizens to sign their drivers’ license and indicate their willingness to become organ and tissue donors.

Becoming an organ donor isn’t only for the deceased, either. In January 2004, Doyle signed legislation providing an income tax deduction of up to $10,000 for travel and lodging expenses or lost wages of a person who donates one or more of his or her organs as a living donor.

Wisconsin became the first state in the nation to have a law to help families offset the costs of organ donation.

Nationwide, nearly 100,000 men, women and children need life-saving organ transplants, and every 13 minutes another name is added to the waiting list. The obstacle most frequently preventing patients from benefiting from organ transplantation continues to be the availability of suitable organs.

In Wisconsin, more than 50 percent of drivers and ID card holders are recorded as potential donors — an increase of 4 percent since 2004. In 2007 there have already been 52 donors in Wisconsin, but as of the most recent count there were more than 1,424 people on the waiting list for an organ transplant.

http://www.onalaskalife.com/articles/2007/10/18/features/transplant3.txt

[Rerun]

Yeah for Sluff's State!!

[boxman55]

And mine too.. funny how this did not appear on the local news or the major Milwaukee paper-Journal-Sentinal It is good to know though...Boxman

[Sluff]

I wonder where this was held?  The 14th annual Gift of Life Medal Ceremony. I'm glad Wisconsin leads in something good. 

[okarol]

Organ donation recognized in Wisconsin

Issue date: 10/8/07

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is honoring two local hospitals for their efforts in organ transplants.

Luther Midelfort Hospital and Sacred Heart Hospital on Clairemont Avenue have achieved a 75 percent donation rate. This means that 75 percent of all eligible organ donors through the two hospitals eventually become one. The national average is 60 percent.

Sacred Heart and Luther Midelfort hospitals will be two of 320 hospitals presented with the Health and Human Services Medal of Honor at the National Organ Donation Learning Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn.

Professor of economics and event coordinator Eric Jamelske said he hopes the presentation will encourage students to establish the first Wisconsin chapter of Students for Organ Donation.

http://media.www.spectatornews.com/media/storage/paper218/news/2007/10/08/UniversityBriefs/Organ.Donation.Recognized.In.Wisconsin-3016696.shtml

[okarol]

Presentation in Davies set to raise organ donation awareness
Session aimed to inform students, share people's firsthand experiences with national transplant program

Janie Boschma
Issue date: 10/8/07 Section: Campus News


Junior Michelle Fredericks said she has been an organ donor since she passed her driving test five years ago and placed the orange donor sticker on her license.

She said she has informed her family members, many of whom work in the health care sector, to make sure they carry out her wishes.

"I think it's really important because I've seen a lot of need for organ donation," Fredericks said. "I think it's a really good idea; it helps save lives."

On Wednesday, representatives from the UW-Health Organ Procurement Organization will be on the Campus Mall providing information about organ donation from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

From 4:30 to 6 p.m., a public presentation, "Raising Awareness About Organ Donation and Transplant: The Gift of Life" will be held in Davies Center's Council Fire Room.

Besides general information, the session will include stories of firsthand experiences with organ donation.

According to a news release from Sacred Heart and Luther Midelfort hospitals, more than 97,000 patients are on a waiting list for an organ transplant - nearly 1,500 of those living in Wisconsin. In the United States, 18 people on that list die every day without a transplant, and a new patient is added every 13 minutes.

UW-Eau Claire alumna JoAnn Forster, 55, of Eau Claire said a heart transplant saved her life.

After having a silent heart attack in July 2005, Forster received a mechanical heart to pump blood for the defunct left half of her heart. Less than a half-year later, the mechanical heart began malfunctioning and she moved up on the waiting list for a heart transplant. After waiting six months, Forster received a new heart in April 2006.

"I don't know how long I would have waited if he hadn't come to the United States," Forster said of her donor. "There's not a day I don't get up and think of him and his family, the gift they've given me."

A native of South Africa, her 18-year-old donor died in a farming accident in the Dakotas.

"My donor is my hero," Forster said. "I hope my kids would do such an unselfish act as he did. He makes me proud to know him in a remote way."

Today, Forster is recovering well and said she is now able to do all of the things she could do before her heart attack, including traveling.

Patti See said she is happy to be able to help someone after she dies. In July 2005, See said she donated one of her kidneys at the University of Minnesota Fairview Transplant Center. See is the senior student services coordinator in the Academic Skills Center and is also a lecturer in Women's Studies.

"It cost me nothing but a few days of my life and an organ," See said. "I wish I had more kidneys to give away. How could I not save someone's life and still continue the same kind of life I have?"

http://media.www.spectatornews.com/media/storage/paper218/news/2007/10/08/CampusNews/Presentation.In.Davies.Set.To.Raise.Organ.Donation.Awareness-3016713.shtml

[Sluff]

Thanks Karol.

[goofynina]

That's it, i am moving to Wisconsin gosh darnit 

[boxman55]

That's it, i am moving to Wisconsin gosh darnit 

We would be most honored to have you. Besides the fact that we could party like no tomorrow...Boxman

[Sluff]

That's it, i am moving to Wisconsin gosh darnit

Bring it on baby and Sam could work for me. 

[Chris]

Out of curiosity, does Wisconsin have an organ donar awarness license plate? Illinois does, but it's butt ugly to me because it is in Chicago Bears colors and has a Bears helmet. It just doesn't represent organ donar awareness to well, more like support for the fricken Bears.

[boxman55]

no it does not have one, Chris.....Boxman

[goofynina]

You know, i was thinkin' (yes, it hurt)   But, the reason why Wisconsin is the leader in organ donation is cuz there is no HELMET LAW!!!  I still think there should be one (for Sluff's safety) ya know  

That's it, i am moving to Wisconsin gosh darnit 

We would be most honored to have you. Besides the fact that we could party like no tomorrow...Boxman

And that's an understatement Mr. Boxman