NEED FOR ORGAN DONORS HIGHLIGHTED AT CAPITOL

ALBANY, NY—With more than 10,000 New Yorkers on waitlists for organ donations, Senator Sue Serino (R, C, I—Hyde Park) joined with her colleagues in the Senate today to highlight the need, encourage community members to register as donors and pass critical legislation that will attract donors and improve the process. One such piece of legislation includes a bill Serino sponsors that would make more options available for emergency transportation of organs and tissue.

“Unless you have lived it, it is hard to imagine the agony that waiting for a new organ can cause not only a patient, but their entire families,” said Senator Serino. “Registering to become an organ donor is such a small thing that we can all do to ultimately save lives. I encourage community members to take a minute out of their day today to register as a donor.”

Senator Serino’s bill (S. 2162 A) would designate human organ delivery vehicles as emergency vehicles, making more options available for emergency transportation of organs and human tissue so that hospitals would not need to rely so heavily on ambulances.

The designation would allow organ delivery vehicles to be retrofitted with lights and sirens, allowing their drivers to more easily navigate through traffic and congestion and ensure a quicker delivery of the life-saving organs and tissues. Currently, the law allows blood delivery vehicles to operate as emergency vehicles, yet organ and tissue delivery vehicles are excluded.

“When your life depends on receiving a new organ or tissue donation, every second counts,” continued Senator Serino. “To think that a life could be lost as an organ delivery vehicle sits in traffic, is reprehensible. Should this bill become law, it would take effect immediately, so I urge my colleagues in both houses to make it a priority. Those on waitlists for an organ have waited long enough.”

The bill is sponsored in the Assembly by Assemblymember Aileen Gunther.

Senator Serino also co-sponsors two additional bills that passed in the Senate aimed at increasing donations, both of which are sponsored by the Chair of the Senate’s Health Committee, Senator Kemp Hannon.

The bills include the ‘Living Donor Protection Act of 2017” (S. 2496) which aims to empower living donors by preventing insurance discrimination and ensuring that those who selflessly decide to donate their organs or tissue while they are alive will be eligible for the state’s new paid family leave program. The bills also include another (S. 2497) that will establish a personal income tax credit worth up to $10,000 for living donors in the state to help cover the costs incurred throughout the process of donating an organ or human tissue. Both bills have been sent to the Assembly.

Senator Serino concluded by urging community members to register to donate asking, “Would you take a few minutes out of your day if you knew that what you did during that time could save up to eight lives? That’s all it takes to register as an organ donor and as a donor you have the real potential to give the gift of life. I hope community members will take the time today to register.”

For a list of ways to register, click here.

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