Anatomic Gift Foundation Inc

Programs: Ii. Major accomplishment in 2016: a. Agf maintained its accreditation by the american association of tissue banks (aatb) as a non-transplant donation organization. B. Agf had two additional staff-members become certified tissue bank specialists (ctbs) under aatb in 2016. C. All staff who were due to submit their ctbs ceus to re-certify with aatb in year 2016 have done so and have kept their certification d. Agf maintained its new york license as a non-transplant anatomic bank. E. Agf was inspected by the maryland board of morticians and found to be in compliance with regulations for operating a crematory; as well as for mortuary transporters f. Agf passed all safety and environmental inspections by various entities, i. E. , fire marshall, maryland department of environment (both air & radiation), etc. G. Agf has continued its quality systems; which include regular auditing and reporting of findings. H. Agf has had increases in number of donors and donor families served, increases in types of services provided, and increases in number of clients served; without a net increase in staff numbers. Iii. 2016 statistics: a. Donors 1. There were a total of 1297 donors in 2016 (an increase of 86 donors over 2015) 2. 47% of the donors were from agf's home state of maryland 3. A little over 31% were from neighboring states (a 6% increase over last year) 4. Approximately 22% were from states out of the region; where donor transportation costs are most high. (a 3% decrease over last year) b. Future donors: in 2016, an additional 1157 applicants (representing a 12% increase from 2015) were pre-registered with agf to be future donors (865 being people signing up using first person/willed and 301 future donors needing authorization after death. The breakdown by location was 442 for maryland, 411 regional, and 304 non regional); providing their medical & social information; as well as vital statistics information for death certificates, etc. Many were willed / first-person consent cases; while others (who are not able to make that decision due to noted cognitive disabilities (like dementia, brain tumor with memory problems, etc. ) will require next-of-kin / poa authorization at the time of death. At the conclusion of 2016, agf was maintaining files for a total of 19,213 non- willed future donor cases and willed body donor cases. Some have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and most others are merely planning for a future eventuality. This information is reviewed, cataloged and entered into our database for future retrieval, to assist the families at the time of death. Donor and family services coordinator staff contact our registered future donors every few years to update their medical records and next-of-kin contact information. C. Tissue placement & use: 1. Specimens used on site with our in-house bioskills lab facility: we hosted and provided specimens for 123 lab sessions in 2016, serving hundreds of learners; and represents a 16% increase in the total number of facility users served over 2015. The breakdown by type was: a. Physician / surgeon training: 38 sessions (a 44% increase over 2015%; ) b. Rescue / life-saving / ems training (anatomy and procedure practicum labs: 36 sessions (a 28% increase in last year; and consisting of 28% of all labs conducted - a 2% increase over 2015). 2. Student / anatomy and procedure practicum labs (includes high school level, college level and physician assistant education sessions): with a total of 51 labs in this genre, this remained relatively stable as compared to last year. 3. Specimens sent off-site for use in medical research and education; both domestic and internationally: agr provided services to 235 clients (208 domestic and 27 international clients) in 2016; reflecting a 13% increase in this area over those served in 2015. The increase was entirely in the number of domestic clients. Iv. Program initiatives that assist the organization to meet organizational goals: a. Education 1. Public education activities 2016: a. Llf fun run: living legacy foundation, inc. , a local non-profit transplant organ and tissue bank b. Internet website c. Attend and exhibit at meetings regarding health, aging, and end of life decisions d. Attend and exhibit at maryland county fairs e. Visits to area senior centers 2. Professional education activities 2016: a. Agf's director of operations gave a presentation on the topic of post- transplant whole body donations: more good can be done to the american association of tissue banks (aatb)'s 2016 annual quality and donor suitability workshop; which was attended by representatives of transplant tissue banks from across the nation. B. Open house meeting with one of the local organ and tissue bank where we gave a presentation and facilities tour to their staff. C. Visits to regional hospice / palliative care centers to provide in- service education to staff on whole body donation d. Visits to local / regional transplant organ and tissue banks e. Visits to county departments for aging 3. Staff education and continuing education a. American association of tissue banks: staff certification and on-going continuing education b. Suicide prevention education c. Medical education: terminology, normal aging, diseases, disease agents, surgical procedures, etc. Through web-based programs by american nurses' association, rn. Com, american association of tissue banks, association of operating room nurses, medline university, pfeidler enterprises, etc. D. In-house education regarding blood-borne pathogen, exposure control plan, hazardous communication, human dignities act, etc. E. Crematory operator certification f. Mortuary transporter credentialing g. Cpr basic life support training. 4. Educational assistance provided to tissue end-users: includes research study design, specimen or donor type selection, feasibility, logistic constraints, etc. 5. Establishment of summer internship program with one intern in the technical department during summer 2016. B. Participation with professional associations: accreditation, licensing, permits and credentialing, staff memberships, staff credentialing, etc. 1. American association of tissue banks (aatb): in 2016 our executive director/ chief operations officer and our director of operations have volunteered their time to an aatb committee of that is reviewing and revising the non-transplant anatomic donation standards with other aatb accredited non-transplant anatomic donation organizations (nados) to develop and promote best practices for the industry. This activity will continue in 2017. 2. Crematory association of north america 3. Crematory license, maryland 4. Association for bioskills laboratory excellence (able). In 2016, our vice president of quality assurance and our director of operations volunteered their time to an able committee that is attempting create a guidance document for the establishment of best practices for creating and maintaining bioskills laboratories for medical education. 5. National funeral directors association 6. Mortuary transporter permit 7. New york state department of health, blood and tissue resources; licensure (ny is the nearest state that has licensing for non-transplant anatomic banks) c. Reporting of contagious disease testing results to reduce spread of disease and promote screening for those exposed. Notification letters are sent regarding every donor who has tested positive for contagious disease after arrival to the facility to the following: 1. Respective department(s) of health in the county or state of the donor's residence; with specifics as to disease testing, cause of death, behavioral risk factors that may have had a role and family / next-of-kin contact information. This is done for both etiologic / statistical information, as well as providing information that will help them to counsel the donor's family. 2. Family / next-of-kin of the donor are notified that there was a positive contagious disease testing (without specifics given) and suggesting they contact the department of health (to which we have sent notification) to seek testing and any required counseling. D. Cremation of donors found to be unsuitable for donation without cost to the donor family: 1. Cremation for donors that tested positive for a contagious disease after donation: a monthly average of 3-4% of our donors are serologically positive for one of the diseases for which we test (hiv, hcv, hbc and syphilis). Although the organization cannot place tissues form these donors to research scientists, clinicians, and medical educators; and subsequently be reimbursed for our efforts, the organization still honors its commitment to the donor and donor family to cover all costs of transportation, testing, and cremation, without hope of reward in these cases. 2. Donors who demonstrate advanced decomposition on arrival to our facility, or infection with a possible contagion (i. E. , meningitis, cjd, rabies, tb, etc. ) noted on arrival or in hospital records obtained after acceptance of the donor,