Lives Saved or Healed Through Organ and Tissue Donation Exceeds 92,000
Oakland, CA (PRWEB) February 03, 2015 -- Northern California and Northern Nevada tissue and organ donors saved or improved the lives of more than 92,000 people in 2014 -- a number more than two times the capacity of AT&T Park, home of the world champion San Francisco Giants.
California Transplant Donor Network (CTDN) recovered 1,007 organs from 305 donors in 2014. Another 2,223 people became tissue donors, healing others through tissue transplants such as corneas.
“People are alive today or healed because of the collaboration between CTDN and 170 hospitals, four transplants centers, coroners, medical examiners and more than 500 funeral homes,” said Chief Executive Officer Cindy Siljestrom. “This is all possible, of course, because of those who registered as donors or whose families made that choice to donate their loved ones’ organs and tissues.”
About 43 percent of those who became donors through CTDN in 2014 were already registered, joining the more than 12 million California and Nevadans to do so.
But Siljestrom said the need is growing faster than the number of donors. In the area CTDN serves, more than 10,000 people are waiting for organ transplants. Nationally, on average, 21 people on the list die each day without receiving a lifesaving transplant, she said.
The third largest organization of its kind in the country by population served also marked these milestones in 2014:
--The nonprofit handled more than 32,000 referrals of potential donors, mostly from hospitals within CTDN’s roughly 100,000 square mile service area.
--Through CTDN’s education efforts in that area, an additional 375,000 people registered as donors last year.
People can register as donors at ctdn.org or when obtaining or renewing their driver’s licenses at their DMVs.
About the California Transplant Donor Network
The California Transplant Donor Network saves and improves lives by facilitating organ and tissue donation for transplantation. The California Transplant Donor Network helps 170 hospitals in 40 Northern and Central California and Northern Nevada counties offer the option of organ and tissue donation to families whose loved ones have died, coordinates deceased organ recovery and placement, and provides public education with the hope that every resident will become a donor. The California Transplant Donor Network is federally designated as the region’s organ recovery organization. For information, visit http://www.ctdn.org.
Anthony Borders, California Transplant Donor Network, http://www.ctdn.org, 510.273.1229, [email protected]
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