Transporting Organs Again/UNOS

[Guest guest]

Organ Transport Available by Air; UNOS Contributes to Red Cross

September 14, 2001

Since Wednesday, Sept. 12, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has allowed charter flights to transport organs for transplantation. As of Friday, Sept. 14, several airlines have announced that they will accept onto their commercial flights donated organs and other vital medical supplies.

Although some alternate arrangements were made in the first few days after the tragic events of Sept. 11, the national system of organ donation and transplantation continued in operation. UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing, commends the nation’s transplant centers, organ procurement organizations and histocompatibility laboratories for their compassion and their commitment to saving lives through organ donation and transplantation.

The staff of UNOS, through voluntary contributions and deferral of some paid personal leave, will also be contributing at least $24,000 to the American Red Cross to assist those injured, displaced or in other need as a result of this national tragedy.

UNOS, a nonprofit charitable organization, maintains the nation’s organ transplant waiting list under contract with the Health Resources and Services Administration of the US Department of Health and Human Services. UNOS brings together, under that contract and on behalf of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), medical professionals, transplant recipients and donor families to develop organ transplantation policy. UNOS provides the OPTN with a functional, effective management system incorporating the UNOS Board of Directors, committees and regional membership structure to operate OPTN elements and activities.