a SSeS NEWS photo Stuart Davis PACIFIC ORGAN Retrieval for Transportation director Mel Cohen stands behind a nephrectomy kit — the tools for the removal, preserva- tion and transportation of organs. ears IHASE 2 Be Lhe al DON'T WAIT FOR PHASE 3 PRICE INCREASE i. a . _ = Year for ta ALL REGULARLY PRICED [3 MeMBersHies a FACILITIES & SERVICES EXCLUSIVELY FOR WOMEN « MODERN WEIGHT TRAINING EQUIP. ° PROGRAMS FOR TONING. TRAINING & BODY SHAPING * AEROBIC CLASSES a NO-BOUNCE AEROBICS * CUSHIONED WOOD FLOOR © FAEE-WEIGHTS CJ * WHIRLPOOL * SAUNA © PRIVATE SHOWERS © INDIVIDUAL LOCKERS * LIFECYLCE AND FAN BIKES © PRIVATE DRESSING SO0THS * OVER 400 CLUBS ACROSS NO. AMERICA * AND MUCH, MUCH MOREt NEW ADULT PATRONS ONLY Ch 441 Marine Drive C2 North Vancouver 980-5 HOBO OWOOUOO 29 - Wednesday, Febriiary 11, 1987 - North Shore News Prepare buffet early PAGE 32 LGH ENTERS PROGRAM Organ transplants now reality on WHEN WEST Vancouver artist Daniel Izzard required a heart transplant last year he had to travel to Toronto, On- tario. But steps are now being taken locally that could mean heart transplant patients won't have to leave the province. Izzard’s wife Denese said a new program in B.C. is making all the difference to patients in need of heart or other organ transplants. Called the Pacific Organ Retrieval for Transplantation pro- gram, (PORT) was established in B.C. last September by the Ministry of Health. Its aim is to increase the number of all organs available for transplantation; to maximize organ utilization; increase public and medical awareness; and become a computer data collection and analysis centre, PORT director Mel Cohen said eventually it is hoped that all B.C. hospitals will become organ donor centres. Cohen added heart and lung transplants are not being done in B.C. yet, but the Ministry of Health is looking into making heart transplants a possibility in the province. . Since PORT began, Cohen said Lions Gate Hospital has par- By KIM PEMBERTON News Reporter ticipated in organ retrievals, such as kidney, heart, cornea and bone. ‘Towards the end of the sum- mer this year we'll go to every hospital and speak with the board of directors and ask them to en- dorse the (PORT) program. ‘We've tested the waters locally, and we've received extremely good support. We're starting to get the message out,’’ he said. Cohen noted in 1985 there were 35 kidney donors, and in ‘86 that number almost tripled to 98 kidney donors. But, he said, about 150 is the number of kidneys needed for transplants in B.C. each vear. Another 10 to 15 residents need heart transplants in B.C. each year, {0 to 15 need flung transplants, 10 to IS need liver transplants and 200 need cornea transplants. B.C. does do kidney, cornea, bone and skin transplants. He said a suitable donor is a brain death victim; who is free of any known disease, does not have "Handcrafted Comfort a significant history of drug abuse and is free of infection. About 20 to 25 per cent of B.C.’s population has signed driver’s licence donor cards, but Cohen said this number is not enough to meet the demand. “We ask people to talk with their next of kin and tell them their wishes, so in the event of an un- timely death the appropriate steps can be taken,’’ he said. “The organs are too precious to waste,” he said. A kidney can survive 48 hours outside the body; heart and liver four to six hours; lungs half an hour, eyes two to 14 days, and frozen heart valves up to 10,000 years, said Cohen. “‘Generally we have 24 hours after a patient is pronounced brain dead for tissues to be removed.”’ Within the next two weeks a 75 page manual detailing all aspects of organ retrieval will be in all B.C. hospitals. Doctors will also receive a small, credit card like card, detailing the steps that identify possible organ donors. Cohen said be hopes through in- eteased public and medical awareness to the organ donor pro- gram, lives, like artist Daniel 12- zard’s, will be saved. "DON’T MISS the ANNUAL SALE at: J © 1046 Robson St. Vancouver ® Lonsdale Quay North Vancouver . ¢ 4247 Village Stroll Whistler