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FDNY Rolling Out Emergency Organ Harvest Vehicle
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 25, 2010
Modified Oct 25, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 25, 2010
Modified Oct 25, 2010
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The FDNY is hiring EMTs to man a new "Organ Preservation Vehicle" that will race around Manhattan to make sure fewer organs go to waste. Starting next month, the $1.5 million pilot program will dispatch two EMTs, a "family services coordinator" and a doctor to the scene of accidents or cardiac arrests. If the next of kin consents, after attempts to resuscitate the decedent have failed they'll keep the "potential organ donor" on a ventilator and rush him or her to Bellevue Medical Center to remove the organs.
Officials insist this won't get in the way of NYPD homicide investigations, and a spokesman for the department says, "These people may have wanted to be an organ donor, but there is currently no system in place to have this occur. We're very excited about this new, cooperative plan that will allow us to do even more to honor organ donors' wishes and save more lives."
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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