Members of the clinical team at Mid-America Transplant showed their holiday spirit for the organization’s annual Cubicle and Door Decorating Contest with a special acknowledgment to the heroes who gave the Gift of Life in 2018. A dozen clinical employees made 240 paper angels to hang from the ceiling in the new on-site Intensive Care Unit at Mid-America Transplant, earning them first place in the group entry of the contest.
The 240 paper angels represent the number of donors who have agreed to organ donation at Mid-America Transplant in 2018. Fourteen smaller paper angels represent the number of pediatric donors.
A sign on the door to the ICU includes a slight variation of the well-known line from the Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life: “Every time the phone rings, an angel gets their wings.”
The adapted movie line has multiple meanings. When the phones ring at Mid-America Transplant, it’s the beginning of the donor process. It also speaks to recipients receiving a life-changing phone call, all because of the selfless acts of a donor and their family.
For the creators of the display, it was important to have a visual representation of the the number of organ donors the organization had cared for so far this year. It also served as a reminder to be thankful for their loved ones during the holiday season.
Mid-America Transplant’s clinical employees care for a donor in the hours leading up to the recovery of lifesaving organs. They also coordinate the allocation of organs while following protocols to improve the viability of the donor’s organs before recovery and transplant into a recipient. This process occurs at Mid-America Transplant in a new six-bed, on-site ICU, which opened in November.
Through November, more than 580 organs have been transplanted from donors at Mid-America Transplant.
