Pennsylvania’s Physician General Dispels Common Organ Donor Myth In New Public Service Message

September 23, 2013

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Pennsylvania Physician General Dr. Carrie DeLone has joined with Donate Life Pennsylvania’s new “30 Seconds” campaign to dispel one of the leading myths about organ and tissue donation. In her new 30-second video message, which is now featured online at DonateLifePA.org, Dr. DeLone rejects the myth that paramedics and doctors will not do everything possible to save the life of a registered organ donor.

“If you haven’t registered because you’re worried you won’t receive the best medical care available, I can assure you that’s not the case,” said Dr. DeLone. “If you’re in an accident or ill, paramedics and doctors will do everything possible to save your life.”

Dr. DeLone notes that a hospital’s medical staff is completely separate from the transplant team and transplant surgeons are called only after all efforts to save a life have been exhausted.

The video is part of Donate Life PA’s latest public-education initiative to increase the number of registered organ and tissue donors by more than 200,000 over the next two years.

In her video message, Dr. DeLone says that she is one of more than 4.4 million Pennsylvanians already registered as organ and tissue donors. “That’s a lot of people who have your back. Isn’t it time you returned the favor? It only took me 30 seconds to share this message. That’s all it takes to become a registered donor – 30 seconds!”

The Donate Life Pennsylvania “30 Seconds” campaign features real Pennsylvanians from across the state who agreed to share their personal stories in the hopes that it will encourage their fellow citizens to register. 30 seconds represents the amount of time it takes to log onto DonateLifePA.org and register as an organ and tissue donor.

View the video here: http://vimeo.com/75211194

 

About Donate Life PA

Donate Life PA is a collaborative initiative between Gift of Life Donor Program (GOL), the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) – the two organ procurement organizations serving Pennsylvania – and the Pennsylvania Departments of Health and Transportation. It is funded by state residents through voluntary contributions included with driver’s license renewals, vehicle registrations and state income tax filings. All contributions are used by the Governor Robert P. Casey Memorial Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Trust Fund to educate residents, build awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation, and increase the number of people who sign up to become donors on their driver’s license, learner’s permit or state identification card. Visit us at DonateLifePA.org or at Facebook.com/DonateLifePennsylvania.

About Gift of Life Donor Program (GOL)

Since 1974, Gift of Life has served as the link between donors and patients awaiting life-saving organ transplants in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. Gift of Life Donor Program is the nation’s most active and well-respected organ procurement organization, coordinating more than 35,000 life-saving organ transplants and more than 500,000 tissue transplants during the last 39 years.

About Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE)

The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) is one of 58 federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States. CORE works closely with donor families and designated health care professionals to coordinate the surgical recovery of organs, tissues and corneas for transplantation. CORE also facilitates the computerized matching of donated organs and placement of corneas. With headquarters in Pittsburgh and an office in Charleston, West Virginia, CORE oversees a region that encompasses 155 hospitals and almost six million people throughout western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Chemung County, NY.