Students from the Institute for Health Professions at Cambria Heights were shown a pair of human kidneys inside mechanical pumps during a visit to LiveOnNY in Long Island City.
It was something they likely had not seen before. One kidney was minutes away from being transported to a recipient, while the other was waiting for a match inside what is known as the rescue room at LiveOnNY.
What You Need To Know
Students from the Institute for Health Professions at Cambria Heights saw two human kidneys preserved in mechanical pumps at LiveOnNY
The Long Island City visit included the Donate Eight Simulation Center, modeled after an ICU
Staff shared training scenarios and personal stories to demystify organ donation
“We are extending the life span of this Kidney while we are making sure it goes to the perfect recipient,” said Christina Jaeschke, senior director of recovery services at the organization.
LiveOnNY is one of 56 federally designated organ procurement organizations in the United States and works with 100 hospitals across the region to get gifts of life to patients across the nation.
“About 65% of these gifts of life move outside the New York metro region to the sickest people on the wait list in the nation, and it is our responsibility to monitor, keep, protect that gift of life all the way to its destination,” said Leonard Achan, president and CEO of the organization.
The students’ visit also included the Donate Eight Simulation Center, designed to look like a hospital ICU room and equipped with a mannequin patient whose eyes blink and pulse.
“What we do is we run scenarios in here with our transplant coordinators and we test their ability to critically think, to assess the patient, to give recommendations for stabilization, and we also have very crucial family conversations in here,” said Jennifer Ray, senior director of donation operations training and education.
The center aims not only to enhance training for clinical operations staff but also to educate the public about the organ donation process.
“We want to make sure that we give the opportunity to fill in the blanks, to educate and engage our community, dispel urban myths and legends around this, maybe get a yes, or give them a chance to day yes or no,” said Achan, a native New Yorker, who has spent more than 25 years in health care, including time as an ICU nurse and nurse practitioner.
Students also heard from staff with personal connections to organ transplants.
The school’s dean of students, Chrishelle Thorpe, is a kidney recipient and said the experience brought her full circle.
“To bring awareness and showing the impact that being an organ donor can have I hope will help my students when they become of age to either say yes or no but to have the conversation and think about it,” she said.
For many, the experience was thought-provoking.
Student Zakiya Menelik, who hopes to become a surgeon, said, “It really opened my mind to the idea of being an organ donor.”
Classmate Delieza Hidalgo shared a similar reflection, saying, “Not everyone has the chance to live a long life, so it would really make a big difference for you to be that person to change that person’s life.”
Achan said the goal of visits like this is simple: to let people in and take away the mystery from what organ donation is about.