New tissue, organ donation registry coming soon

A new provincial organ and tissue donation registry is being created by Health PEI.

In September, a letter will be sent to 59,000 households across the Island. Every member of the household over the age of 16 will be asked to answer yes or no to donating their organs or body tissues.

Tissue donation can have a huge impact on people's lives.- Angela Carpenter

Right now, Islanders can indicate their wishes on their driver's licence or their provincial health card.

Angela Carpenter, the province's organ and tissue donation and transplant manager, says she hopes the new registry will make it easier for hospital staff to approach families about donations.

"If we can go to them and say, 'This is what your loved one wanted,' it makes a huge difference," said Carpenter.

"And studies have shown that when staff can go to the family and say your loved one has indicated that they want to be a donor, close to 90 per cent of the time the families will say yes and go along with what their loved one's wishes were."

1 donor can save multiple lives

The tissues come from the eyes, skin, bones, tendons and heart valves. One donor can give as many as 75 tissue grafts.

One or two Islanders donate organs each year. Carpenter admits the number is low, but points out that even one donor can save multiple lives.

Carpenter says her main focus to increase the number of tissue donations because that's where she says Islanders can make a real difference.

Last year there were 16 referrals of potential P.E.I. donors to the tissue bank. Of those, four were able to donate.

Carpenter says another 30 people could possibly have been referred, but staff didn't have enough education and the proper processes in place. She has now done the work and is ready to launch the new provincial registry.

Licence, health card not always readily available

"I think people need to realize that tissue donation can have a huge impact on people's lives. It may not save their lives, but it certainly improves their lives a great deal," said Carpenter.

She says it could potentially make a big difference because a lot of Islanders have already indicated that they want to be donors.

Seventy-two per cent of Island drivers currently have the heart on their licences indicating they want to donate their organs. There is also a box on the back of provincial health card and a question about being an organ and/or tissue donor.

But the driver's licence or health card is not always available to staff at the hospital.

The provincial registry will be easily accessible.