Episode 49: Understanding the Organ, Eye, And Tissue Donation Process, A Series of TTCL Podcast with Erica Randall

During this episode of This Thing Called Life podcast, host Andi Johnson kicks off a series about how the donation process works from the perspective of the Organ Procurement organization, which is what Life Center is. Andis guest today is a staff member of Life Center, Erica Randall. Have you ever wondered how the gifts of organ, eye, and tissue donations come to be? Tune in for the intricacies of this life-saving and life-healing process.

 

Episode Highlights: 

• The LifeCenter of Cincinnati, Ohio is 1 of 47 Organ Procurement Organizations that are under the umbrella of AOPO:The Association of Organ Procurement Organizations.  There are about 56 in total. 
• The donation process is collaborative; Andi shares about the organizations that are involved and how they are interconnected.
• Today’s guest, Erica Randall, shares her role in donation support services, or DSS.
• What exactly is DSS and what do they do? 
• Erica explains guidelines and how they reach out to families. 
• What does it take to work in the DSS?
• Andi asks Erica to share what motivates her to go into the DSS everyday and do her work especially when she is meeting with families in tough circumstances who have often unexpectedly lost a loved one.
• There is a misconception that to be a donor, you have to be in perfect health. That is not the case. Andi asks Erica to explain.
• Erica’s mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer and asked if she could still be a donor. In her case, she was and she was able to give the gift of restoring eyesight for two people when she passed. Erica shares how it changed the perspective for her family.
• Andi asks Erica to share with honesty what she finds most challenging about her role.
• There is a major ripple effect in the donation process for all of the families. 
• The DSS is open 24/7, 365 days a year. Erica explains the shifts and needs.
• In 2006, Erica’s cousin was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. He became an organ and tissue donor. That is the first time she had ever heard of organ and tissue donation and the first time she had an experience with LifeCenter. 
• In nursing school, for her senior capstone project, she chose to work with Life Center and sent up a table at the Batavia, Ohio BMV where they were educating people about donation. She knew she wanted to work for LifeCenter at that time.
• Andi shares about how Erica’s cousin’s family has done so much in the community to fuel the education efforts that LifeCenter does.
• Interested in positions at LifeCenter? Visit https://lifepassiton.org/who-we-are/careers/
• Erica speaks from experience and explains how it is so rewarding to work for LifeCenter and be a part of the positive difference.
• Andi talks about the after-care department that follows families for 18 months after the death of a loved one. In a coming episode, there will be more information about it and someone from that department as well as the in-between pieces with coordinators.
• There are 106,065 people who are waiting for life-saving organ transplants and about 90,000 of those people need kidney transplants. Your decision to be a donor matters. For more information visit https://lifepassiton.org

 

3 Key Points:

1. The Donation Support Services (DSS) are at the core of organizing organ, eye, and tissue donation through the stages. They give their all to the families providing comfort and remaining professional while collaborating with hospitals, coroners, etc.
2. Erica shares what motivates her to work in the DSS and the impact that the work has.
3. Andi and Erica discuss the opportunity in donation and how it provides healing and hope for so many involved on all sides.
    

Resources Mentioned:

• LifeCenter (website) (Facebook) (Instagram) (YouTube) (Twitter)
• Andi Johnson (website) (LinkedIn)
• https://aopo.org/