 Mid-America Transplant Services provides the following services within its service area:  Family Support Services MTS has a team of family support personnel who are specially trained to approach families about donating the organs and tissues of a loved one who has died. They are available to answer the families' questions and guide them through the donation process during a very difficult time. In addition to the MTS staff, MTS provides special training to hospital personnel including nurses, pastoral care and social workers on how to approach families about tissue donation. Organ Recovery MTS coordinates all aspects of the organ recovery process from scheduling the operating room to the preservation of the organs. Working from a national list of recipients, all suitable organs are placed by the MTS coordinator prior to their recovery in the hospital operating room. Depending which type of organs are suitable for transplant, one or several teams of transplant surgeons do the careful recovery of the organ. MTS then assists with the preservation, packaging, and transportation of the organ to its final destination at the operating room where an anxious recipient awaits. Tissue Recovery MTS recently renovated existing office and lab space and utilized unfinished storage space to build a state-of-the-art, in-house operating room. Tissue donors are transferred from the donor hospital to the MTS facility. A highly-skilled team of MTS medical professionals performs the tissue recovery. Recovery of tissue is dependent on the age and medical condition of the donor. The recovery process takes between four to eight hours depending on the type of tissue being procured. Eye Recovery Eye recovery is a simple procedure that can be performed in a variety of places: the patient's room, the hospital morgue, the operating room, or the funeral home. The procedure takes less than one half-hour, including restoration. One eye donor will enable two people to restore their sight after a cornea transplant. After eyes are recovered, the corneas are carefully preserved under sterile conditions at the MTS facility. The corneas are then placed in a storage solution that allows them to be stored for up to one week. Donor Family Services Making the decision to donate is an emotional process. To help families make the transitions required, a support group for donor families is held monthly. Being able to come together and share experiences continues to be a source of comfort for donor families. In addition to monthly meetings, donor families are honored at a National Donor Sabbath celebration and at an Annual Donor Family Brunch during National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week. Professional Education MTS is responsible for maintaining a high level of awareness with the medical staff of 115 hospitals within its service area. MTS must develop specific systems for both requesting donations and the recovery process within each hospital. Education includes criteria for identifying donors, requesting donations, and the care and medical management of the potential donor. Community Involvement Part of our mission is to educate the public on the importance of organ and tissue donation; therefore, MTS is very involved in many community functions. Many audience-specific education programs have been developed by MTS, especially our new secondary school program which is consistent with Missouri DESE criteria. |
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