Last month, it was reported that the FDNY was hiring EMTs to man a new "Organ Preservation Vehicle" that would follow ambulances to the scenes of accidents in order to make sure fewer organs went to waste. Starting today, the program will begin a five-month trial run: the organ team will monitor 911 calls for people who may be in danger of dying, and if they can't be resuscitated, and family consents, the team will quickly move to try to save the kidneys.
"The unfortunate truth is that 8,000 New Yorkers are currently on the wait list for a donation, and there are barriers that make saving their lives not as simple as it could be," said Mayor Bloomberg. Initially, the trial run will have certain limitations: it will be kept mostly to Manhattan, between the hours of 4 p.m. and midnight, to adults between 18 and 60, and to people who die of cardiac arrest at home or another residence. If the pilot is a success, doctors plan to expand it into Brooklyn and Queens, and to allow family members to decide to donate a loved one's organs even if the deceased person never registered. Officials hope the program mimics similar types of successful organ-harvesting programs in Spain and France, which is fine, as long as they don't follow the English method:
