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One last gift

After families receive the devastating news about the imminent loss of a loved one, it's Sandi Bazley's job to explore the possibility of organ donation with the grieving relatives.
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Heart transplant recipient Joyce Grantham was at London Drugs as part of national organ donation week.

After families receive the devastating news about the imminent loss of a loved one, it's Sandi Bazley's job to explore the possibility of organ donation with the grieving relatives.

As an in-hospital donation co-ordinator with BC Transplant, Bazley offers family members the chance to save the lives of other ailing people by offering their informed consent to organ donation.

"We don't think of asking for something, we think of it as providing an option at end of life," Bazley said Thursday during a public engagement event at London Drugs. "Every family should get to decide, if they're in that situation. No one else should make that decision."

Although based in Vancouver, Bazley is the co-ordinator responsible for UHNBC and travels to Prince George often to meet with hospital staff. An intensive care nurse herself, Bazley said it's important to have dedicated donation co-ordinators in place because it allows physicians and medical teams to direct their full focus on saving the patient.

"We're never getting involved with a patient until the intensive care unit has exhausted all possibility of recovery or hope," she said. "It's only when we're looking at end of life discussions that we might discuss organ donation, if it's appropriate."

Only about one per cent of hospital deaths are eligible for transplants and Bazley and her colleagues approach all the families of potential donors, regardless of whether the deceased person has pre-registered with BC Transplant. But the process goes much more smoothly if people have signed the registry to indicate their wishes and have talked about their desire to donate organs with their family.

"Bring it up at dinner, just ask, 'how does everybody feel about this?' " she suggested. "In the unlikely event that you're ever in that place to have to make that decision, it's very helpful if you know what your loved one wanted or not."

The signed registry document is a powerful reinforcement for the family members, who are making the decision during an emotionally difficult time.

According to a survey conducted by Ipsos last month on behalf of the B.C. branch of the Kidney Foundation of Canada, more than 50 per cent of respondents said they had registered their decision to donate organs, yet in reality only 19 per cent of British Columbians have actually signed up through BC Transplant's system.

Kidney Foundation B.C. branch executive director Karen Philp said she's unsure why the discrepancy exists, but hopes an upcoming consultation process will help. Kidney Foundation representatives will be coming to Prince George later this year to talk to people here waiting for transplants, people who have had transplants and those who are at risk of developing kidney disease.

"We want to talk about the barriers to them accessing a kidney transplant in Prince George, if any," Philp said. "And what would they recommend we do about it."

The survey also found that 95 per cent of British Columbians were open to the idea of donating an organ. Philp hopes the upcoming trip to Prince George and other locations around B.C. will help generate new ideas to increase the number of willing donors to take the next step and register.

"The best thing to do is ask people, 'how do we make this happen?' " she said. "The best brains are out there."

Bazley hopes ongoing awareness campaigns will encourage more people to both register with the agency and discuss their wishes with their family.

Earlier this week, BC Transplant held a 48 in 48 campaign, with the goal of getting 48,000 new donor registrations in just 48 hours. Although the campaign fell short of its target with over 5,800 people signing on over the course of the two days, the drive still pushed the total number of people registered in the province to over 900,000.

"It was a hugely ambitious goal, that would have represented a few years [worth of registrations]," Bazley said of the initial target, but added the drive still amounted to matching the number of registrations the agency could expect in a typical year.

The drive included both traditional media and social media campaigns to raise awareness about the registry. Bazley said getting recipients to tell their story is another important reminder for people that the impact organ donation has on those who are suffering from kidney, heart, lung, liver or other organ diseases.

Locally, Thursday's event featured visits from two heart transplant recipients Shane Dehod and Joyce Grantham. Currently another Prince George resident, baby Logan Vandermeulen, is awaiting a lifesaving heart transplant in Vancouver.

BC Transplant registration is done online by visiting transplant.bc.ca and requires a B.C. CareCard to complete the process. More information is available by calling 1-800-663-6189.