Susan Mau Larson
Appearances
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Yeah. Thank you for that question. That's a great question. So generally it's the same, like we said, Minnesota's high 56% of people in the country. It's probably 45, maybe every state has the opportunity to register on your driver's license or state ID.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
What I will share is we've really been working hard to find other avenues. So anyone in the country can register online. There's opportunities to just go to the, an online website and register. Minnesota was the first state in the country to add donor registration to hunting and fishing licenses. So in Minnesota, if you're going to fish, you can register.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
We've worked, Nicole's worked a lot with two tribes in North Dakota, one of which was the first tribal nation to add donor registration to tribal IDs. And I will tell you in Michigan, they just added donor registration, I think to their tax forms.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
So around the country, everybody's trying to find more ways to make registration as easy as possible. But the driver's license is the most common way.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Yeah. Thank you. I'll take that. And then Nicole can add on. And actually, I believe a heart and a kidney have been transplanted from what we call xenotransplantation. LifeSource actually doesn't do anything directly with that. So that would be transplant centers. Okay. It is a indication of how science and medicine is continuing to advance to meet the need of transplantation and.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Ironically, maybe your medical advisor knows this better than I do my understanding is that pigs are a little closer to human. genetics than, say, primates, which is what we might typically think of. So there's a lot of development. I know the University of Minnesota has looked at some of that, although they weren't the ones who did these transplants.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
So it's really exciting to see that, I think, because the need for transplant is great. And so anything we can do to help those people is important.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Mm-hmm. Yes, I can. When somebody dies, in order to donate their organs, they actually need to die in a hospital on a ventilator. Because the ventilator keeps the blood and oxygen perfusing, keeps the organs healthy. That is really less than 1% of people. However... If you don't die in a hospital or don't die in a ventilator, that's when the gifts of tissue and eye donation are so important.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
And so somebody can restore sight, restore mobility for somebody in need. So those are really important gifts. And that's where Nicole talked about we can save up to 75 lives. That's through all those gifts of organ tissue and eye donation.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Actually, I think that was beautifully stated, Nicole. Thank you.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
No. So what I would say is at the time of donation, we really evaluate the health of each organ. We have seen organ donors in their nineties, you know, maybe not heart, but liver. And sadly we've also seen infants who were, were donors. And so what we like to share, is if donation is important to you and something you want to happen, make those wishes known, register, talk to your family.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
And then at the time, the healthcare team will really look closely.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Yeah, great question. We actually don't directly get really involved in live donations. Sometimes we work in support of our transplant centers, but it really is the transplant centers are doing it. So the University of Minnesota Mayo Clinic, if somebody wants to donate an organ to a loved one, a neighbor, or just to donate it, they would manage that whole process directly.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
I haven't. And I think, as we said, the transplant from pigs is so new. So if that develops, I suspect we'll hear more. And Nicole, as she mentioned, just the cultural aspect on the donation side, she does such a nice job really supporting our teams and working with them to support families in the hospital. That's where we see that.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I can take that. That's a great question. So as you can imagine, every country in the world has different donation processes and systems, just like we all have different governments and different social systems. So the first thing I'd like to share, it's really important to note, is the United States has the highest donation rate in the world.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Or last year, we had the second highest donation rate to Spain. So it's a little bit, some years Spain is the highest, some years the United States. So we're very proud of our system and know that a lot of countries look to us to say, what do you do? The registration rate is different. The process is a little different in some countries. So the United States is what we call opt-in.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Basically, none of us are donors unless we register to be a donor or our family chooses it. So we start from no and we opt in. Some countries have an opt out. Everybody's considered a donor unless they choose not to be or at the time of their death that their family chooses for them not to be. So it's a little bit flipped.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
You know, I'd add one thing and then Nicole may have some more. You mentioned the 46,000 transplants in 2023, which was really amazing. The number of transplants in the country, it just continues to grow. And I think that's what I wanted to reflect on. That's the highest. And of course, 2022 was the highest ever before that. So it's, it's pretty amazing. And
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
When COVID hit, we couldn't do transplants from patients who had had COVID because we didn't understand it yet. And now we can. And so that's really been helpful because, of course, I think most of us at some point or other have gotten COVID by now. So we need to be able to make transplant happen.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Thank you for asking. This is Susan Mallarson, and I'm just so excited to be here with you today and talk about this topic. So LifeSource is the organization that is responsible for management of organ and tissue donation in actually Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. So if you think about LifeSource, we are the people behind the donor on your driver's license.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Yeah, that is a great question. I don't have those statistics. I don't know if Nicole does. I do know it's long. And I'll say I just saw an article, I think the longest heart transplant recipient is going on 35 years, maybe. Wow, great. Kidney recipients that have been out 40 some years. You know, for some, it's not as long, but so it It really is a life-saving gift.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
So when somebody says yes to donation, it is our privilege to work with that individual and their family to facilitate the donation process and make sure the organs and tissues that they generously give to others are received by those in need. And we are a little bit more, we are actually based in North Minneapolis.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Clarence, I'm thinking about Kevin Jenkins and I'm trying to remember when he got his kidney transplant. So I feel like it's 20 years ago.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Well, my closing thought is just my, Nicole put it in the chat, but I just want to say my just heartfelt gratitude for Sheridan and her aunt and for so beautifully sharing her story and those gifts. So thank you so much, Sheridan.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Like I said, we cover those three areas, but our headquarters is in North Minneapolis.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Yes, we do. That's a great question. There are 56 organ procurement organizations in the country. So the federal government designates our service area. It's important to note, we're not a government agency. Of course, like all health care, we're heavily regulated by the government. But we each cover a designated service area so that we don't compete.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
We collaborate with each other closely, but we do not compete.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Yep, thank you. You know, it's really important. There are about 3,000 people in our three states alone that are waiting for a life-saving transplant, a little bit more than 100,000 in the country. Organ transplantation is so unique in healthcare because it is the one area that doctors, surgeons, nurses need.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
whomever it is, the care team cannot actually help those who are suffering from organ failure without individuals who generously say yes to donation. So the need is absolutely critical. In Minnesota, 56% of Minnesotans have registered as donors. So we're a very generous state. And we also need to really work to increase the number of people who support donation.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
kind of the history that's a great question i'd love to answer that and i i don't want to take over for nicole but i um i love the history um so the first successful human organ transplant was in 1956 and that was you're exactly right kidney and even today of the hundred thousand people waiting for a transplant the majority are waiting for kidneys so it really started with kidneys and then developed the first successful human heart transplant was in 1967.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
So, you know, if you really think about donation and transplantation and all the developments in science and medicine, it's a relatively short time in our human history that this has developed and become so successful.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
You know, that's a really good question. I think the first kidney transplant was in Pennsylvania. What I will say is both Hennepin Healthcare in Minnesota and the University of Minnesota were really pioneers in transplant. And I think the University of Minnesota actually did the first pancreas transplant ever. So they were pioneers right out of the gate. Of course, I'm a proud Gopher alum.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
and proud of the work that the university has done in transplant.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Yes. I will take that and walk through that on the donation side. So you're right. Two parallel tracks waiting for transplant and donation. So what happens on the donation side is that all the hospitals in our service area call LifeSource when someone has died or when there's an imminent death in their hospital.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
And then we work very closely with the hospital and with the family to make donation happen. We work with the care team to do the evaluation to see are they a potential donor, which actually only a small percent of people can donate at the time of their death. Um, then we see if we're the ones who checked, did they register as a donor?
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
We, if not, we ask the family, do you want donation to happen? And then we manage the whole clinical process up to the surgical recovery of the organs. That includes. working with the national organization who has the database of everybody waiting for a transplant. So we will contact them and say, you know, we have this potential donor that we're caring for.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Here's their blood type, all the criteria. And they will tell us who the appropriate recipient is based on a set of criteria, geography, how sick they are, you know, obviously has to be a medical match. And then we make sure the organ is transported to that transplant center where the person's waiting.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Absolutely. So again, we're in the hospital, our team working with the family, supporting the family and the care team, making sure that the organs are recovered either by the transplanting surgeon, or actually we have our own surgeon who recovers kidneys for us. And then our team make sure it's packaged carefully in ice. And, you know, this is the part you kind of see in the movies.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Now it went in a cooler and then it's either driven or flown to the transplant center. So, you know, if we are taking care of a donor, say at Regions, but the recipient is at Mayo Clinic, then we'll make sure it's driven to Rochester. If the recipient's in Chicago, for example, we'll make sure it gets on a plane and gets to them there.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Yes. And if like if it's a heart, it will go by charter flight. Kenny has a little bit more time to be transported. But yes, we have to make sure that they're received in the time. Actually, we had an interesting story two years ago. We had a donor in Minneapolis and the recipient in Bismarck and we had a snowstorm. And our driver got all the way to North Dakota and all the highways were blocked.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
And I'm not kidding, but the North Dakota State Patrol came out and escorted them all the way to Bismarck.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
Absolutely. So when somebody needs a transplant, they're all in one registry through the United Network for Organ Sharing. Sometimes we think of the waiting list, but it's a database of everybody. But then when organs are allocated, geography comes into play. So if you think of a high population area like New York, there's probably more people waiting.
Health Chatter
Organ Donation with LifeSource
There may be more donors, but there are more people waiting. And so That's why some people say, you know, I might be better off waiting in Chicago, for example, because when organs are allocated, they actually go out like a target first 100 miles. And if there's no recipient, they will go 200 miles. And so geography really does matter.