In Florida, disparity between minorities’ need for organ transplants, and donations

Alpha 1 Foundation 

As a healthy black man, Torrey Green once recoiled at the thought of signing up as an organ donor when renewing his driver’s license, saying he didn’t want his body “defiled” after death.

Now the Boca Raton teacher needs a new kidney, and similar trepidation has kept a close relative, the one perfect match, from donating hers to save his life.

Green’s bitter irony underscores a troubling disparity in culture-rich Florida: Blacks and Hispanics make up more than half of the state’s organ transplant waiting list â€" and 40 percent of the Sunshine State population â€" but account for just 26 percent of its organ donors, according to 1988-2013 government data.

What’s to blame? Common myths, misconceptions and a distrust of the medical system, all entrenched in the minority culture, say those working to close the gap.

“They don’t understand what it actually means to be an organ donor,” said Audra Lopez, transplant services nurse practitioner at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale. “They think if they sign up, the ambulance driver won’t drive fast, or the doctor won’t pump their chest, or they won’t get the medical services necessary to keep them alive.”

That’s why Life Alliance, the federally designated organ recovery agency serving six South Florida counties and the Bahamas, has made it a mission to educate the African-American and Hispanic communities on the facts and realities of giving the gift of life.

Fact No. 1: Organs can only be recovered from patients declared brain-dead, so if they die before reaching the hospital, their organs die, too â€" meaning there’s no incentive to withhold care, medical experts say.

______________________________________________________ 
"You have the power to SAVE lives." 
To register as a donor in California: 
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 
Outside California: 
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net



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