ST. LOUIS — Drivers will see a new type of emergency vehicle on the area streets: a fleet of six SUVs transporting lifesaving organs to and from local hospitals.
The vehicles, which are equipped with lights and sirens, will carry specially trained staff and equipment needed to transport organ recovery teams, organs and tissues, officials said. The hope is to increase the safety and efficiency of transferring organs from donors to awaiting recipients.
The organ donation process is intricate, requiring precise coordination with multiple medical teams often across hundreds of miles and modes of transportation.
Instead of relying on various courier and ambulance services on the ground, Mid-America Transplant will use the to staff the new emergency vehicles and help coordinate logistics with private and charter flights.
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“Our staff understands the critical and time-sensitive mission they are supporting each time they transport an organ or transplant team,†said Scott Demczyszyn, senior vice president at the alliance, which specializes in transport logistics of organ and tissue donation.
The branding on the new emergency vehicles will also give visibility to the importance of organ donation.
“When people see the transport vehicle, it’s a visual reminder that the lifesaving gift in progress will save and improve the lives of many,†said Kevin Lee, president of Mid-America Transplant, which coordinates organ, tissue, and eye donation in 84 counties covering eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas.
“It’s a moment to pause with thoughts of hope for the recipients, and gratitude to the donor and their family,†Lee said.
Waitlist exceeds 1,400
The new vehicles are rolling out on the heels of a long list of activities last month to encourage organ donor registration as part of National Donate Life Month.
Currently, more than 1,400 Missourians are on a waitlist for one or more organ, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
Just one organ donor can save eight lives and enhance the lives of 75 or more. The heart, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, liver and small intestine are all life-saving transplants. Tissue donations include cornea, skin, bone, heart valves, blood vessels and tendons.
Donors and their families in Missouri were honored April 11 by state health and government officials with events at the Capitol, Governor’s Garden and Adrian’s Island park, where paver stones were installed honoring the donors.
In the last fiscal year, 94 living donors and 416 deceased donors made organ donations in Missouri, according to the state health department.
“Although the majority of people support the idea of organ donation, not all have taken that simple step to ensure their wishes are honored after they are gone,†said MDHSS Acting Director Paula Nickelson, whose father was a grateful recipient of corneal transplants.
Last month, SSM Health announced it was adopting a policy to provide full salary benefits to employees while they recover from surgery after choosing to become a living donor.
“This policy helps living-donor employees recover without incurring financial loss in sharing the gift of life, and illustrates the dedication of our hospital, health system and transplant program to reducing barriers to living donation and living donor transplantation,†said , medical director of living donation at SSM Health ºüÀêÊÓƵ University Hospital.
SSM Health has 40,000 employees and more than 12,800 providers at facilities across Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
Mid-America Transplant also partnered with the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals at an April 16 home game to set up a booth where fans could register to become a donor or ask questions. Giveaways included Ҡcaps, T-shirts, pins and baseball cards.
More than 50 fans registered to become donors, and many others likely registered online, officials said. Mid-America Transplant will also staff a booth at the June 9, June 28, Aug. 18 and Sept. 17 games.
To learn more about organ donation, or to send by mail, go to or visit your local .