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Prince Edward Island\u2019s new organ and tissue donation liaison could be hired within the next year, according to the province\u2019s program manager.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Angela Carpenter, P.E.I.\u2019s provincial organ and tissue donation and transplant program manager, said she hopes the position will be filled within the next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a really big step, something that we’ve needed for a long time,\u201d Carpenter told CBC\u2019s Island Morning host Mitch Cormier.<\/p>\n
LISTEN | New resource supports organ and tissue donation on P.E.I.:<\/p>\n
Island Morning6:39New resource supports organ and tissue donation on P.E.I.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Carpenter said a key focus of the role will be supporting donors\u2019 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\u2019t always have the opportunity to become comfortable with every step.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey could be at the bedside during the organ and tissue donation process, so they could speak to the families directly,\u201d Carpenter said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
While details of the position are still being worked out, Carpenter said it may require a clinical background.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know in a lot of places, the organ donor coordinators are ICU nurses. In some places, they have social workers,\u201d she said. \u201cSo it could be a variety of different backgrounds, but somebody who’s used to working with people, having difficult conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each potential donation case is unique, she added, meaning the liaison cannot just follow a fixed checklist.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith 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,\u201d Carpenter said.<\/p>\n
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Angela Carpenter, P.E.I.\u2019s 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)<\/p>\n
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\u2019t realize exists.<\/p>\n
Having a point person in place, she said, could help with both the logistics and the emotional weight of those decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/a> His family\u2019s decision helped save five lives and prompted many Islanders to register as donors.<\/p>\n Carpenter said that legacy continues in the push to improve support for families and encourage more Islanders to register their intent to donate.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease, please, please, if you want to be an organ or tissue donor, register your intention to donate,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s easy to do. You can do it online anytime.\u201d<\/p>\n