Yellowknife (Apr 08/05) - Fear of violating the wishes of potential donors remains one of the greatest barriers to supplying the growing need for transplant organs.

Families faced with the imminent death of a relative who is brain dead but still breathing can only look to a signed organ donor card for the answer.

"It helps the family make that decision," said Rob McCulloch, donor co-ordinator with the HOPE (Human Organ Procurement Exchange) program in Edmonton.

Rhonda Reimer, clinical co-ordinator with the Yellowknife dialysis unit, holds an organ donor card and a green ribbon that indicates a donor. - Dorothy Westerman/NNSL photo

Organ donor cards are being mailed to Northwest Territories residents along with new health care cards as part of a plan to recruit more donors.

Rhonda Reimer, clinical co-ordinator of the dialysis unit at Stanton Territorial Hospital, said donors should sign the cards and advise their families of their wishes.

"It's not a legal document. If I signed that card but didn't talk to my family about it, then my family could say no," she said.

Organ donors have been few in the NWT. Reimer can recall only two instances in the last six months of patients being sent to Edmonton for donation, including Yellowknife firefighter Cyril Fyfe.

Maximize process

Since the organ donor program began, Reimer said more than 30 patients have had an organ transplant in the NWT and six are currently waiting for a kidney transplant.

Reimer said kidney patients comprise the longest list of those waiting for transplants in the NWT.

McCulloch said once a family decides to proceed with organ donation, the process begins.

Blood tests are done, and the patient is kept on life support for transportation to Edmonton where the organs are collected. The body is returned to the family.

"Anytime we have the potential for organ donation, we need to maximize that process," McCulloch said. "That means that we're going to pay the medical cost of the air ambulance and paramedics to bring people down, even if it is not 100 per cent sure of success."

Help up to 80 people

Organs from one body can help up to 80 people. The heart, lungs, liver, small bowel, kidneys, pancreas, eyelid cells and tissue such as corneas, sclera, heart valve, skin, bones, tendons and ligaments can all be used, McCulloch said.

After organ donation, the program will stay in touch with the family for a year afterwards, helping them with the grieving process and letting them know what happened with the organs.