April is Organ and Tissue Donation Month. Auburn Memorial Hospital is a proud participant in the Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network and the Finger Lakes Eye and Tissue Bank. The total number of tissue donations from AMH for 2007 was seven. Since approximately 50 recipients benefit from each donation, 350 individuals were helped through the donations received from AMH.

Since 1987, the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation (MTF) has placed three million tissue grants for transplantation. Tissues that can be donated are heart valves, bones, skin, connective tissue and veins. The uses include orthopedic surgery (i.e. hip replacements, knee repairs, disc replacement), skin grafts for burn victims, vascular surgery, bladder slings, hernia repair and mastectomy repair - to name just a few. These surgeries take place every day, and many of us take them for granted.

Currently, there are more than 94,000 people waiting for lifesaving organ transplants; 8,500 are New Yorkers. Hundreds of thousands will be in need of tissue transplants this year. Every day 17 people die waiting for an organ that wasn't available.

Anyone can pledge to donate, regardless of health status or age. Medical history or age does not automatically exclude anyone from becoming a pledged organ and tissue donor.

The Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network's mission is: “To save lives through organ donation and offer comfort to grieving families.” It is a not-for-profit, hospital-based program that facilitates the donation and transplantation of organs and tissue in New York State's Finger Lakes, central and upstate regions. It is authorized by the federal government to recover organs for transplant in the Finger Lakes and Central New York area. This includes assessing medical suitability of potential donors, offering families the option of consent, placing organs per nationally established criteria and conducting education for the public and health professionals. Anyone wanting to learn more can call (800) 810-5494 or visit www.donorrecovery.org.

AMH notifies the Regional Donor Pledge Registry of every death that occurs at the hospital. If, upon review, a candidate is suitable for organ or tissue donation, the family is offered the option of donation. It is very helpful for individuals to share their decision with their family regarding donation, even if they have already signed a donor card, indicated a decision on their driver's license, in their will, or on their health care proxy.

A bumper sticker sums the message up well: “Don't take your organs and tissue to Heaven with you; Heaven knows we need them here on earth.”

Beverly Miller is the director of community relations and the Hospital Foundation at Auburn Memorial Hospital.