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12 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Wednesday, May 4,1994 Week in Review- Optimist Club Hosts Leadership Educational Workshop Donating Organs Helps Ease the Pain of Sudden Death for Family by Lorraine Manfredo Knowing what to say to grieving relatives after a sudden death is not easy, even for trained medical professionals. professionals. Ironically, one of the most compassionate compassionate things a doctor or nurse can do for anyone whose child, spouse or parent has just passed away in an intensive care ward, is to ask them to consider donating their loved one's organs for transplant, according to the Multiple Organ Retrieval Retrieval Exchange. As cold as it may seem, being allowed allowed this opportunity to turn a tragic loss into a lasting gift of life for others can ease the pain of death enormously and leave a lasting legacy legacy in the donor's honor. But, according to Memorial Hospital's Hospital's Nursing Education Manager Frances Westgarth, not enough potential potential donor families are being asked, Emergency ward staff are too often uncomfortable making the request request and consequently don't present the option. "It's a hard thing to do," West- garth concedes. "You've got people who are suffering if there's somebody somebody who has just died or is abut to die. They're trying to deal with that. For a doctor or nurse to go up and ask if they would like to donate their organs is very hard." Yet the request to donate, as many families will testify, is often welcomed. The mother of a 10-year-old boy who died in a traffic accident expressed expressed gratitude in a letter to the Multiple Organ Retrieval Exchange Program (M.O.R.E.): "Had the option option for organ donation not been offered offered by Aaron's physician, I would have had deep regrets today ... His gift of healing and renewal was the last gift we were to give together." The need for organs is great. There were 842 Ontario residents on the waiting list for à transplant last year, yet less than 600 operations were performed. The success rates for kidneys and liver are above 80%. Success rates for heart and lung transplants are above 70%. Eyes, bones, and skin are urgently needed as well. During the recent Organ Donor Awareness Week in April, M.O.R.E. hosted a day-long seminar at Memorial to train health care professionals professionals in acceptable ways of asking asking donor families. The request cannot be delayed after after brain death is declared because the body must be maintained artificially artificially to preserve the tissue. "It's a matter of getting over that hump of not wanting to ask," West- garth notes. "Everybody is feeling so much for the relatives in their grief at this point And although medical practitioners are aware of the need, asking is not always a pri- Roller Blade Fundraiser Helps Lupus Association Area residents will be invited to lace up their roller blades next month in a fund-raising project to benefit the Ontario Lupus Association. Association. The event is slated for the Bowmanville Bowmanville Recreation Complex on June 17th. Karen Thompson, president of the Durham Branch of the Ontario Lupus Association, said one of the major attractions will be a benefit hockey game (on roller-blades) featuring featuring the Town Sports Oldtimers and numerous players from girls' hockey leagues. Some of these will be members of the Toronto Jr. Acres Acres and also members of the Canadian Canadian women's team. Among the local participants arc Sarah Couch, Sommer Sommer West and Kristy Thompson. "It's really coming together well," said Thompson in describing plans for the fund-raiser. She hopes that if the project succeeds, it could become an annual event and perhaps expand to other communities. Also planned for June 17th is a refreshment garden, DJ, Karaoke singing and an opportunity for everyone everyone to roller-blade and raise funds for Lupus research through a Bladc- a-Thon. Canadian Tire is one of the sponsors sponsors of the project and the store will be contributing some of the prizes, including a gas barbeque. Thompson Thompson adds that other sponsors arc welcome and their support will be shown through banners displayed around the rink. In a further effort to raise funds for Lupus research and help provide recreational opportunities for youth, a regular Monday night roller- blading session is also planned from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The public roller- blading is set to begin in June, although although that date may txs advanced. Lupus affects an estimated 500,000 Canadians. For further details on the fundraiser, fundraiser, call 623-2765. only. But from the family's point of view, they may like to be able to make that choice." Westgarth envisions a day when every potential donor family is asked. At present, in many ICU's including including Memorial's, it is still rare for medical staff to pose the question. question. But the onus needn't lie entirely with the medical profession, Westgarth Westgarth notes. "Donating should be a joint thing." She hopes to get the message out to the public that it is not ghoulish to suggest donation on behalf of a dying relative whose wish was to do so. "If the physician or nurse doesn't ask, maybe the family will say she was very keen on donating her eyes or organs," Westgarth said. "Police are being taught to check licenses when they are at crash sites so information can be passed on to ambulance personnel and emergency emergency ward staff." Reactions vary from flat denial to instant affirmatives. But Westgarth says any sense of insult is very brief and quickly forgotten. No one is pressured. Most of us know of someone who has benefitted from a transplant, transplant, she says. When friends see recovering recovering patients make productive use of the extra years they are given it is the best publicity the organ retrieval retrieval program could ask for. And as the concept of organ donation donation loses whatever remnants of a taboo label it once had, it will become become easier and more routine for medical professional to ask next of kin. She urges people to consider signing the back of their drivers license license or a special donor card. "And make your wishes known to your family," said Westgarth. Students from several high schools in the area gathered at the Baseline Community Centre on Wednesday, April 27th for a Community Leadership Educational Workshop hosted by the Optimists. 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