Posted on 08/26/2007 7:10:53 PM PDT by Stoat
|
|
NHS sends organs on coaches |
|
|
August 27, 2007 SKINT NHS bosses are using National Express coaches to transport organs for transplants.
And The Sun can reveal it meant an EYE went missing on its way to hospital. It was sent in a box on a coach and disappeared on the way to Northampton General. Hospitals should use private ambulances to carry the organs. But many have axed the contracts to save money. Delivery firm TNT was due to collect the eye — for a cornea transplant — from Northampton bus station where it had been taken by coach. But the National Express office, where sensitive parcels were held, was shut. The eye was finally tracked down and used in an op the next day. The money-saving scheme was exposed by a paramedic, who did not wish to be named. The ambulance worker said: “I think that this is morally wrong. “Budget cuts mean that the NHS has stopped using many private ambulance firms. “They used the private companies because NHS ambulances are busy on emergency call-outs. The service worked really well. “It meant trained paramedics supervised the transportation of the vital organs and rushed them between hospitals on blue light jobs.” Last night, West Midlands Ambulance Service said: “There are different time frames for different organs. “For items like a cornea transplant, eyes can be moved using different transport methods to organs like hearts.” |
“When it absolutely, positively, has to be there... whenever.”
“Take Greyhound, and leave the eyeballs to us!”
A cornea will keep for up to 30 days as long as it is stored cool (eg, dry ice in the shipping container) and kept bathed in preservation media. Most get used within 2 weeks and those that aren’t are often shipped to India, Africa, or some other part of the world where tissue is hard to procur due to religious or cultural issues. Corneas and whole eyes often get shipped by common carrier in the US.
That looks like he’s just had his first prostate exam!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.