Organ Donation Awareness Month

Hello readers,

Welcome to the Grand Aire blog!

We are very excited to announce our new blog and start sharing all things Grand Aire with everyone, beginning with organ donation awareness month or as we know it, Organ Procurement Organization Month.

There are 58 OPOs in the United States and they are all a part of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), which was created by and is overseen by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).

On the 1^st day of April, Grand Aire started the celebration of Organ Procurement Organization Appreciation month. During this moth, we like to highlight all that we do to aid the organ donation process. 

There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding organ donation and what it entails.

When you think of organ donation, most would assume that the organs never leave the site of where the donor is located. Sadly, this is very rarely the case and most of the time, that organ needs to go to a hospital that is miles away from where the donor is located.

When an organ, such as a kidney or heart, is recovered from the donor, there is only so much time you have before that organ is no longer viable for transplant. Even tissues like bone and skin have to be transplanted within 24 hours. Because of this, the process of organ donation is very time-critical.

Organ donation steps involving Grand Aire:

1.  The local organ recovery organization is notified of a death in the area
2. The recovery agency coordinator will then make an initial evaluation to make sure that the deceased individual is medically suitable for donation
3. Once the donor is all cleared medically, the recovery agency coordinator will then check to see if that individual is registered to be an organ donor (If the individual is not a registered donor, the agency gets written consent from the next of kin)
4. A donor match is made
5. Grand Aire is notified by the agency coordinator to make a charter flight request
6. Immediately, Grand Aire will find the closest plane that is best suited for the particular situation and make sure that that plane can be ready to take off in under an hour.

The Grand Aire team is quick acting and can position a plane within 15 minutes after being notified. The plane will then be inspected and wait on standby for the organ and/or surgical team to arrive by car or ambulance.

Our organ and/or surgical team charter flights are just one of many services that we provide here at Grand Aire. Another role Grand Aire plays in the organ donation process is having our 24/7 ground crew at the Toledo Express Airport to ensure a smooth transition of the organ and/or surgical team from plane to their transportation to take them to the hospital where the recipient is waiting.

View our OPO Video for more information.

Click HERE to get a quote with Grand Aire

Our efforts to spread the word about organ donation in the month of April has resulted in 10 new registered organ donors. We hope that everyone would considered being an organ donor and help give the git of life.

Thanks for reading our first blog and be sure to check back next month for our June blog!

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