The Gift of Life Though Organ Donation

Wyoming Donor Registry
The perfect way to make your voice – and wishes – heard! Launched in July 2003, the Wyoming Donor Registry allows you to sign up as an organ and tissue donor. Based on driver’s license records, Wyoming has the highest percentage of organ and tissue donors in the nation. Don’t get left out – click on “join today” and follow the links.

Wyoming Cares, Wyoming Shares
Follow this linkto learn how your decision to donate can impact the citizens of Wyoming. The Wyoming State Health recently established the “Wyoming Cares, Wyoming Shares” project to provide education on organ and tissue donation in our state.

Donate LIFE
The vast majority of Americans are in favor of organ donation. More than half say they have signed a donor card or indicated their wish to donate on their driver’s license. While these documents provide legal proof of the desire to donate, appropriate authorities always discuss organ donation with family members of the deceased in advance of the event. To ensure that your family understands your wishes, you should share your decision to Donate LIFE. This web site is dedicated to all aspects of organ and tissue donation. From local community awareness projects you can establish to contacting a speaker to visit your area to web-based documentaries, this Web site is full of useful information.

Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank
Sharp vision requires the structures of the eye to function properly. Injury or disease can cause the cornea to become hazy, preventing light from passing through it. A cornea transplant can potentially allow someone who has been blind since birth the opportunity to see for the very first time. Click here to find out more.

National MOTTEP®
National MOTTEP® is the National Minority Organ and Tissue Transplant Education Program. The first of its kind in the country, this program is designed to:

• Educate minority communities on facts about organ and tissue transplantation.
• Empower minority communities to develop transplant education programs that allow them to become involved in addressing the donor shortage.
• Increase minority participation in organ/tissue transplant endeavors including signing organ donor cards.
• Encourage and increase family discussions related to organ and tissue donation.

Increase the number of minorities who donate organs and tissues.

 

Your Life, My Life, Our Life
The majority of transplant patients are waiting for kidneys, and more than 50 percent of those people are minorities. This campaign is designed to increase the number of living kidney donors.

• The number of living donations increased 16.5 percent between 1999 and 2000, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
• Sixty-eight percent of children under 18 who need a kidney transplant receive the organ from a parent.
• Due to the shortage of donors, the average wait for a kidney transplant is 3 to 5 years.
• You can donate to someone who is not related to you. You may know a family member, friend, co-worker or neighbor who is waiting for a kidney transplant. Help shorten that person’s wait, improving his or her life, as well as your own.

Be encouraged! You can live a normal healthy life with one kidney.

For those individuals who have received a transplant or are waiting to receive a transplant, please feel free to look at these web sites:

National Transplant Assistance Fund
This organization was established to help defray expenses related to organ and tissue donation. The National Transplant Assistance Fund can offer direct financial assistance in the form of grants to eligible candidates, pay uninsured medical expenses, raise funds for medically related transplant expenses without jeopardizing existing insurance coverage and even provide support and assistance at no cost.

United Blood Services
Did you know that blood products can be used for a multitude of health-related problems? Red blood cells can treat anemia. Platelets can help those with leukemia and other cancers. Plasma assists those with blood clotting disorders and hemophilia. Click here for more information on how your blood can benefit someone.

Biolife Plasma Services
Biolife Plasma Servicesis a progressive industry leader in the collection of high-quality plasma processed for life-saving therapies for conditions such as hemophilia.

For more information on Wyoming Medical Center’s Organ and Tissue Donation Education Program, please call -307-577-4310 or e-mail Andy Hamilton at ahamilton@wmcnet.org.