New Yorkers Uneasy Over Organ-Harvesting Ambulance Project

[Guest guest]

New Yorkers uneasy over organ-harvesting ambulance project

 

An ambulance rushes to the scene of an accident and the paramedics

prepare to assist the victim. Behind them another ambulance rolls up,

its paramedics ready to intervene if the patient dies.

 

 

Their task: get the still-warm body ready to remove organs that could

save another person's life.

 

This system has been successfully in place in Spain for 19 years, but

New Yorkers are uneasy over at plans to launch a similar scheme in

the city with a fleet of ambulances to help harvest fresh human

organs.

 

About 18 people die each day in the United States due to a lack of

available organs for transplant, according to Donate Life America

(DLA), a non-profit group that encourages the public to donate

organs.

 

Even though 90 percent of Americans polled favor donating their

organs if they die, only 30 percent have taken the measures necessary

to do so, according to the DLA.

 

A group of doctors in New York want to change that. Armed with a 1.5

million dollar grant from the federal Health Resources and Services

Administration, these doctors are working on a system inspired by the

Spanish model that would better match the supply and demand of human

organs.

 

The system would both improve management of the available information

on potential donors, and create a fleet of specialized ambulances

that would send teams out to collect the organs of donors who die

suddenly.

 

" We are trying to solve the problem of a large population of

Americans who wish to be organ donors, " and " the large number of

people who die every year awaiting a transplantation that never

occurs, " said professor Lewis Goldfrank, who heads the program.

 

-- It's like an ambulance waiting to take your body --

 

" This project is very similar to the end of life following cardiac

arrest care that is practiced in Barcelona and Madrid, " said

Goldfrank, director of emergency medicine at Bellevue Hospital Center

at New York University.

 

Some however are raising objections.

 

" Even if it is done in Spain, Spain is not the United States, " said

Michael Grodin, a specialist in health law and bio ethics at the

Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

 

The United States " does not have a health care system. We all know we

have 45 million people without access to health care, " Grodin told

AFP.

 

Americans " are worried about the fact that they can get organ

donation but they cannot get health care, " he said.

 

Normally, transplant and organ preservation specialists don't get

involved until after a patient has been declared dead. " Declaring

someone dead out in the field, when the person is either not

decapitated or decomposed ... is a critical decision, " said Grodin.

 

" I think it is a bad idea, a counterproductive one, " he said. " The

public will see it as an ambulance floating around in the city ready

to take your body. "

 

The project's goal is to send an ambulance to the scene of an

accident and for the paramedics to do what they can to save the

victim's life.

 

But without necessarily telling these paramedics, project

administrators will also order a special ambulance in charge of

collecting fresh human organs to the accident site. Its personnel

will intervene only if the patient dies.

 

Instead of driving the body to a funeral home, the second team would

inject the body with fluids necessary to preserve the organs, then

drive the body to a hospital to await the legal authorization of the

relatives.

 

In Spain, thanks to the work of the National Organization of

Transplants, the level of organ donation has increased from 14 per

million in 1989, when the organization was founded, to 35 per million

today -- the highest in the world.

 

The United States currently has a donation rate of 23 per million.

 

© 2008 AFP

 

 

This news is brought to you by PhysOrg.com

 

Article Link:

http://www.physorg.com/news132210187.html

[Guest guest]

Although recycling is " in " , I question these tactics.

 

" Instead of driving the body to a funeral home, the second team would

inject the body with fluids necessary to preserve the organs, then

drive the body to a hospital to await the legal authorization of the

relatives. "

llaci

[Guest guest]

This is crazy and in some instances it can be become murder.

Sometimes a person may be " considered dead " and they are not. There

has been cases that people " thought " to be dead, esp. after a heart

attack have come " back to life " . I see murder looming in this

project.

 

, " rpautrey2 "

<rpautrey2 wrote:

>

> New Yorkers uneasy over organ-harvesting ambulance project

>

> An ambulance rushes to the scene of an accident and the paramedics

> prepare to assist the victim. Behind them another ambulance rolls

up,

> its paramedics ready to intervene if the patient dies.

>

>

> Their task: get the still-warm body ready to remove organs that

could

> save another person's life.

>

> This system has been successfully in place in Spain for 19 years,

but

> New Yorkers are uneasy over at plans to launch a similar scheme in

> the city with a fleet of ambulances to help harvest fresh human

> organs.

>

> About 18 people die each day in the United States due to a lack of

> available organs for transplant, according to Donate Life America

> (DLA), a non-profit group that encourages the public to donate

> organs.

>

> Even though 90 percent of Americans polled favor donating their

> organs if they die, only 30 percent have taken the measures

necessary

> to do so, according to the DLA.

>

> A group of doctors in New York want to change that. Armed with a

1.5

> million dollar grant from the federal Health Resources and

Services

> Administration, these doctors are working on a system inspired by

the

> Spanish model that would better match the supply and demand of

human

> organs.

>

> The system would both improve management of the available

information

> on potential donors, and create a fleet of specialized ambulances

> that would send teams out to collect the organs of donors who die

> suddenly.

>

> " We are trying to solve the problem of a large population of

> Americans who wish to be organ donors, " and " the large number of

> people who die every year awaiting a transplantation that never

> occurs, " said professor Lewis Goldfrank, who heads the program.

>

> -- It's like an ambulance waiting to take your body --

>

> " This project is very similar to the end of life following cardiac

> arrest care that is practiced in Barcelona and Madrid, " said

> Goldfrank, director of emergency medicine at Bellevue Hospital

Center

> at New York University.

>

> Some however are raising objections.

>

> " Even if it is done in Spain, Spain is not the United States, "

said

> Michael Grodin, a specialist in health law and bio ethics at the

> Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

>

> The United States " does not have a health care system. We all know

we

> have 45 million people without access to health care, " Grodin told

> AFP.

>

> Americans " are worried about the fact that they can get organ

> donation but they cannot get health care, " he said.

>

> Normally, transplant and organ preservation specialists don't get

> involved until after a patient has been declared dead. " Declaring

> someone dead out in the field, when the person is either not

> decapitated or decomposed ... is a critical decision, " said

Grodin.

>

> " I think it is a bad idea, a counterproductive one, " he said. " The

> public will see it as an ambulance floating around in the city

ready

> to take your body. "

>

> The project's goal is to send an ambulance to the scene of an

> accident and for the paramedics to do what they can to save the

> victim's life.

>

> But without necessarily telling these paramedics, project

> administrators will also order a special ambulance in charge of

> collecting fresh human organs to the accident site. Its personnel

> will intervene only if the patient dies.

>

> Instead of driving the body to a funeral home, the second team

would

> inject the body with fluids necessary to preserve the organs, then

> drive the body to a hospital to await the legal authorization of

the

> relatives.

>

> In Spain, thanks to the work of the National Organization of

> Transplants, the level of organ donation has increased from 14 per

> million in 1989, when the organization was founded, to 35 per

million

> today -- the highest in the world.

>

> The United States currently has a donation rate of 23 per million.

>

> © 2008 AFP

>

>

> This news is brought to you by PhysOrg.com

>

> Article Link:

> http://www.physorg.com/news132210187.html

>

[Guest guest]

murder?