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Prince Edward Island’s new organ and tissue donation liaison could be hired within the next year, according to the province’s program manager.
The new role within Health P.E.I. was announced last week and is intended to strengthen support for both donor families and health-care staff navigating the donation process.
Angela Carpenter, P.E.I.’s provincial organ and tissue donation and transplant program manager, said she hopes the position will be filled within the next year.
“This is a really big step, something that we’ve needed for a long time,” Carpenter told CBC’s Island Morning host Mitch Cormier.
LISTEN | New resource supports organ and tissue donation on P.E.I.:
Island Morning6:39New resource supports organ and tissue donation on P.E.I.
P.E.I. is adding a new resource to help boost organ and tissue donation. Angela Carpenter, who manages the provincial program, joins us to talk about the initiative.
The liaison will serve as the main point of contact with organizations outside the province, since P.E.I. sends all donors to Nova Scotia or New Brunswick for organ retrieval.
Carpenter said a key focus of the role will be supporting donors’ families, while also guiding health-care staff through what can be a high-stakes and unfamiliar process. Organ and tissue donation does not happen very often in Island hospitals, meaning staff don’t always have the opportunity to become comfortable with every step.
“They could be at the bedside during the organ and tissue donation process, so they could speak to the families directly,” Carpenter said.
“But I think the main benefit is going to be staff education and that communication with the out-of-province organ donor coordinators, and, you know, just hearing from the families firsthand what resources they need.”
While details of the position are still being worked out, Carpenter said it may require a clinical background.
“I know in a lot of places, the organ donor coordinators are ICU nurses. In some places, they have social workers,” she said. “So it could be a variety of different backgrounds, but somebody who’s used to working with people, having difficult conversations.”
Each potential donation case is unique, she added, meaning the liaison cannot just follow a fixed checklist.
“With organ and tissue donation, you can’t always follow the plan, so you have to be able to veer off and maybe make some last-minute tweaks to suit the family [and] the recipient surgeons that are coming in to retrieve the organs,” Carpenter said.
Angela Carpenter, P.E.I.’s provincial organ and tissue donation and transplant program manager, says the new organ and tissue donation liaison is a long-needed role that will guide families through the process and support hospital staff. (Thinh Nguyen/CBC)
Families can also travel with their loved one when donors are transported off-Island for organ retrieval, which is an option Carpenter said many Islanders don’t realize exists.
Having a point person in place, she said, could help with both the logistics and the emotional weight of those decisions.
“One of the biggest things is having to transport the donors off-Island. Families really struggle with that, I think, even the families that really, really want organ donation to happen,” she said.
The new role was announced in part to honour the legacy of Brodie McCarthy of Montague, who died in May 2018 after sustaining catastrophic injuries during a high school rugby tournament. His family’s decision helped save five lives and prompted many Islanders to register as donors.
Carpenter said that legacy continues in the push to improve support for families and encourage more Islanders to register their intent to donate.
“Please, please, please, if you want to be an organ or tissue donor, register your intention to donate,” she said. “It’s easy to do. You can do it online anytime.”
Islanders can register using their P.E.I. health card number through the province’s online portal, makeitzero.ca, or by searching “organ and tissue donation P.E.I.” online.