CASE LOG 02/14/2024 – Valentine’s Day Edition
Mission Profile:
Organ Type: Heart
Wheels Up: 1000EST
Scheduled OR time: 1200EST
Donor Location: North Carolina
Recipient Location: Florida
Aircraft Type: Cessna 560 Encore
Activation:
Originally assigned to go on a different case, I was not headed to North Carolina, however, plans changed as they often do in transplant. The morning of the 14th we had to rearrange team members to accommodate multiple procurements happening around the same time across the country. We pulled a lot of strings to make them all happen and it worked out so well. My wonderful wife, Samantha, was very understanding (as she ALWAYS is) of my need to go, stating that that someone is going to get the best gift possible for Valentine’s Day – a new heart!
Flight #1
The ramp was busy with aircraft activity this morning, we were waiting for a bit for the fuel truck to stop by. No big deal, we had a tailwind that helped us to still arrive on time to the airport on the donor side. The outbound flight to North Carolina was pleasant, with few clouds and smooth air. On the way into Charlotte we flew over Lake Norman, a place where many core memories of my childhood were made, including my love for watercraft of all kinds. I learned to drive and dock a 42 foot Regal cabin cruiser there, piloting a $200k boat at the age of 11. You should have seen my parents sweat!
Donor Side:
We were at a procurement facility for this case. Procurement facilities are nice because they’re tailored to organ procurement teams and have (mostly) everything we need – more on this below. The heart was great, as soon as we opened the chest we could see that it was just thumping away in there. We chatted with the accepting surgeon and they were ready when we were. The liver team ended up declining the liver due to the intraoperative biopsy being less than stellar but stuck around to procure the kidneys and they were ready to go. I worked quickly to get everything set up and prepped for cross clamp – the process of stopping the heart and removing it form the donor. Cross clamp went smoothly and the temperature was great on the heart when it went into the preservation device.
A note to any OPO management that may see this post:
I see this trend of OPOs deciding to build procurement centers, which is great, however, they decide not to ask what they should and should not have in the facility. No-touch door openers are great, as long as I don’t have to walk 10 feet out of the way to wave my hand in front of the sensor. In-wall suction ports are necessary for donor management, its not reasonable to use an all in one suction machine found in ambulances. They’re loud, unreliable, and don’t have enough suction for what we need. OPO management, PLEASE, I beg of you, ask the people who are doing the work what they need and want – they’re the experts.
Flight #2:
The flight to Florida was nice, we had sandwiches on the way and enjoyed flying above the eastern coast of the state and admiring all of the oceanside towns and many waterways.
Recipient Side:
Rush hour traffic and a 40 minute ride in the back of the ambulance with lights and sirens make for a bit of a nauseating ride, but we made it without incident so thats great! Hospital staff was eagerly awaiting our arrival and escorted us to the OR desk to get the heart checked in. We wished them good luck and headed back down to the ambulance to ride back to the airport to head home.
Flight #3
Night flights are some of my favorite flights. They’re usually pretty smooth and I love to watch the cities slowly move into and out of sight, wondering what everyone is doing down there. It was night time on Valentine’s Day after all, so one could use one’s imagination!
Post Case:
We heard from the implanting surgeon that the heart was doing well! We love to get feedback from the implanting surgeons to see how the recipients are doing. Restocked the bag, organized the office a bit since we had so much case activity going on, grabbed the trash, hit the lights, and headed home for some rest after another long but rewarding day.
