It takes a lot of effort from the coordinator and the hospital to make every life connection between the organ donor and the recipient.
"The ferryman" who runs between life and death
One life is gone, and several lives are reborn.
This is not a myth. In reality, there is such a group of people who travel between death and life, constructing miracles of life one by one-matching the donation of human organs, so that the declining life will flourish again.
48 hours sprint
On July 4th, Wu Xiuzhi, a post-90s organ donation coordinator at the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, received a call from a hospital. A boy with severe immune thrombocytopenia was admitted to the hospital with cerebral vascular hemorrhage and was in critical condition.
According to the process, Wu Xiuzhi, who rushed to the hospital, needed to take photos of the patient’s medical records and send it to Guo Yong, the head of the OPO (Organ Donation Office) of the Second Xiangya Hospital, to supplement CT, B-ultrasound images, etc., and then to evaluate the possibility of organ donation.
"The key to the next step is the doctor's judgment on the condition, and whether the family members accept it." Wu Xiuzhi said that the subsequent diagnosis and introduction of the attending doctor is also an important reason for the family's acceptance of organ donation.
The rescue failed to save his life, and the doctor judged that the boy had entered a state of brain death.
Under the persuasion of Wu Xiuzhi and the doctor, the grieving parents expressed their willingness to donate organs. They hoped to see the existence of their son in others.
The evaluation result of the Second Xiangya Hospital was that organ donation was feasible. When the operation was about to be performed, the boy’s father expressed the hope that he would do it after the twenty-seventh lunar calendar (July 6) in accordance with the customs of his hometown.
In order to respect the wishes of his family, Wu Xiuzhi contacted the other party's hospital to continue the treatment and tracked the progress in the hospital.
At 5 am on July 5, a doctor from Changsha Railway Hospital called and another patient's family wanted to donate organs.
The two OPO work forms an overlap, which is rare in the experience of a single staff member. The workload is extremely heavy, and a slight mistake will leave an irreparable regret.
The new donor is a patient from Sichuan who suddenly had a brain hemorrhage while riding a train through Changsha.
After receiving the message on July 2, Wu Xiuzhi came to the hospital to contact the patient's family. After assessing the condition, after many communications, the family's understanding was obtained.
In the early morning of July 5, the patient's condition deteriorated and he was pronounced dead.
Wu Xiuzhi, who was too late to have breakfast, drove straight to the hospital. Under the guidance of the Municipal Red Cross, he coordinated various hospital departments, collected information on visa documents, contacted the doctors of the hospital for surgery, calculated the remaining medical expenses of patients, issued subsidies, and comforted family members... …
The liver and cornea donated this time can give a liver disease patient hope of resurrection, and the two will see the light again.
From 5 am to 12 am, Wu Xiuzhi needs to travel back and forth on different floors. In order to coordinate the various departments of the hospital and communicate with family members in time to explain each link, the full battery of her mobile phone was quickly cleared.
After 7 hours of work, Wu Xiuzhi felt that she was "cleared" too, and she didn't even have the strength to speak.
What made Wu Xiuzhi gratified was that when she was sent to the car, the family of the organ donor thanked her in tears, "Go back and rest. You really regard this as a business person!"
"I just gave great love, but I still care about you, and my sense of existence suddenly increased." Wu Xiuzhi said. She rushed to another hospital after a simple lunch to follow up and evaluate the boy's condition. Contact the early work arrangements, and do not go home until late at night.
When she woke up the next day, Wu Xiuzhi rushed to the hospital again and almost repeated the "homework" of the last donor.
Until 3 o'clock in the morning on July 7, the boy with cerebral hemorrhage was sent to the operating room.
The boy’s liver was donated to two patients, together with the kidneys and cornea, the lives of six people were reborn.
Back home, Wu Xiuzhi, who was dragging her tired body, fell into bed and fell asleep under the loving eyes of her parents.
In 4 years, with the support of colleagues, this young post-90s successfully coordinated and completed more than 70 donations, helping more than 100 people get a new life.
The door-smasher at 3 a.m.
The sweet-looking and smart Wu Xiuzhi's business division is in Changsha City, while Ma Wangzong, born in 1991, and another male colleague were sent to Huaihua City in western Hunan Province to "do business".
When he first entered the industry, he encountered a thrilling scene.
In 2014, Wugang City, Shaoyang, Hunan Province, a team from a place in Sichuan went to the local area to contract a project.
Soon, a worker in his 20s had a safety accident on the construction site. After some rescue efforts, the man’s life could not be saved.
After the director of the department of Wugang People's Hospital introduced the organ donation work to the male parents, the grieving family members finally decided to contact the Second Xiangya Hospital to donate their children's organs.
Ma Wangzong and his colleagues drove away and met with his family at about 3 am.
Soon after I arrived at the hospital and talked with my family in the doctor's office, there were sudden rushing steps and fierce shouts outside the door, and several fists slammed hard on the door, making them extremely crippled in the silent night.
The "just debut" Ma Wangzong boldly asked about the identity and intention of the other party. Several strong men claimed to be the brothers of the injured workers and threatened Ma Wangzong not to talk to his "mother".
"I was at a loss at the time, but I remembered that this worker was an only son and had no brothers, so I suspected fraud in my heart." Ma Wangzong, a sturdy figure, opened the door a gap, and slammed his feet against the edge of the door, communicating loudly with each other.
After some dialogue, he realized that the contractor and his party came. They were worried that the parents of the injured would call the lawyer for compensation and increase, so they brought people over to make trouble.
After learning the truth, this group of talents left in anguish.
"In the past, people's understanding was not so clear, and there were even misunderstandings. With the increase in media reports, the people know and understand more and more." Guo Yong, OPO director of the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, introduced on July 8. Said that there are currently 10 people in their departments and 8 people run in each area.
Except for him, one is born in the 85s, and the rest are born in the 90s.
Over the years, with the efforts of two generations of young and middle-aged OPO workers, more than 800 organ donations have been completed, and about 2500 patients have been saved, accounting for one-third of the total donations in Hunan Province.
Guo Yong recalled that he started organ donation coordination with Professor Peng Longkai, a doctoral supervisor and director of the Organ Transplantation Center of the Second Xiangya Hospital. It was not uncommon to encounter spitting and beatings because the people were puzzled.
Around 2012, when he had just turned 30, he rushed to a hospital to negotiate an organ donation with the injured wife.
After the wife who was in grief heard of her coming, she stared at him for a while, saying that she would go back after discussing it, and let Guo Yong wait on the spot.
As a result, a few minutes later, seven or eight aggressive men greeted him, yelling to teach the "organ practitioner".
Thanks to his quick reaction, he was spared by running away quickly.
Peng Longkai, director of the Organ Transplant Center of the Second Xiangya Hospital and founder of the hospital’s OPO, said that in 2010, 10 provinces across the country started organ donation trials, and Hunan was added to the list afterwards.
Hunan made the first case in 2011 and 7 cases in 2012.
At that time, this caused shocks and shocks in the hearts of the people.
"That was a patient with liver damage. After he died, he donated a pair of kidneys. At that time, I remembered that the donation and demand were almost 1:200." He recalled that at that time, some patients had poor financial conditions or could not wait for the waiting list. He gave up the hope of life.
The huge gap between donation and demand has aroused the attention of the government and the attention of all sectors of society.
Many OPO people interviewed said that with government mobilization and frequent media reports, more and more people have begun to accept the concept of organ donation.
Ma Wangzong, who has been rushing around several counties under the jurisdiction of Huaihua City in the western part of Hunan Province all the year round, revealed that when the local health department held hospital work conferences, they would emphasize the need to support this work and communicate it layer by layer, which brought about the development of the work. Great convenience.
In actual communication with the patient's family, it is rare that the kind of verbal agitation and even hands-on situations are rare.
On January 16, 2015, well-known singer Yao Beina died of illness.
When she died, she proposed to donate her body and cornea.
Yao Beina's act of great love brought light to the four patients and was widely reported by the media. This "relaying life forward" career has been recognized by more and more people.
On May 21, 2019, in Gaotian Village, Chunkou Town, Liuyang City, Changsha City, Hunan Province, 88 villagers made a decision to refresh the traditional concept of funerals. They signed a volunteer letter and donated organs after death.
"If you die, you can't take anything away. If you can save others, why not do it?" Zhu Jikui, a 56-year-old villager in Gaotian Village at the time, wrote her name on the "Registration Form of Chinese Human Organ Donation Volunteers", his wife Zhou Shigui He and his son Zhu Tao also filled out the form and signed a voluntary donation agreement for body organs.
In May 2020, the Hunan girl Weiwei who was supposed to take the college entrance examination that year was unfortunately found out of the late stage of Burkitt’s lymphoma. The originally warm family was instantly cold.
While she was dying, the girl wanted to do her last effort to give back to the world that had warmed her, and ask her mother to donate her body after her death.
In the early morning of the second day of Weiwei's death, her mother agreed to donate her body.
She said that at that moment, she remembered her daughter's firm eyes, and wanted her to be worthwhile.
It is reported that as of July 15, 2021, 3,570,022 people across the country have registered to donate human organs.
As of June 30 this year, a total of 35030 cases of donations and 103,293 organs have been donated.
Behind these numbers are warm stories about life and hope.
In addition to the rebirth of life, there is also the glory of humanity.
Guo Yong, head of OPO at the Second Xiangya Hospital, said that from the more than 800 people who have already donated, diseases and accidental injuries each account for a part.
Among them, the younger children account for about 10%-15%.
The age group of 18 to 40 years old accounts for about 30% of the total.
This is because work accidents and traffic accidents are predominant.
Donors aged 40-60 are mostly due to health reasons.
In order to "bridging" the life of the donor and the recipient, the coordinator and the hospital have to make a lot of effort.
He said that national laws stipulate that organ donation can only be done when the patient's heart and brain are dead.
According to the process, when the patient's clinician determines that the patient cannot be saved and informs the patient's family, some doctors will ask the family's opinion later.
"This is the most critical step. Without the support of clinicians, directors, and leaders of the branch hospital, from our data, no case can be successful." Guo Yong said, this is because the patient's family and doctors are receiving treatment. Will produce close contact and trust.
Without the recommendation of a doctor, the coordinator as an "outsider" would not be understood by the family, not to mention that the family was often in the most painful moment at that time.
According to the current laws and regulations, medical doctors and hospitals support this cause almost free of charge, but it will cause them a lot of trouble: patients who can leave the hospital should continue to stay in the intensive care unit, which costs tens of thousands of yuan a day. The cost is also a burden to the patient's family.
The doctors and nurses in charge of the bed have to continue to monitor, and new patients cannot enter...
What makes the doctor the most headache is that if there are other factors causing troubles, the trouble will be even more troublesome.
Statistics show that medical institutions that understand but are unwilling to specifically support this work still account for a considerable proportion.
The most basic part of OPO is the support of the patient's family.
Considering that families who make unpaid donations will have huge expenses during the hospital's diagnosis and treatment, the government stipulates that hospitals that perform transplant operations will extract part of the expenses to subsidize the families of the donors.
In fact, this expenditure is often used to settle the donor’s medical arrears.
Years of data show that the average patient who participated in the donation in Hunan Province will settle the medical expenses of 30,000 to 50,000 yuan per person, which is almost equivalent to the cost of the ICU ward of the grassroots county hospital for about a week.
The specific factors that contribute to the success of the donation also include careful evaluation of the patient's condition, and the coordinator's painstakingly persuaded, or moved with affection or reasoned.
Wu Xiuzhi bluntly said that her work is full of conflicting emotions-on the one hand, she sympathizes with the patients and their families for their pain, and on the other hand, she knows that the patient's departure has the opportunity to give others a new life.
"Family members expect their loved ones to recover as soon as possible, and you know it the same way, you can only touch that sensitive point carefully and go back and forth in this contradiction."
She recalled the most unforgettable experience in her 7 years of work, and even made herself who is good at communication depressed: a boy named Yu Xiang, who suffered from cerebrovascular malformation, was treated in the intensive care unit for more than a month, but still Did not save lives.
When the child was 2 and 6 years old, he suffered from cerebrovascular malformations. This untimely bomb buried in the child once threatened his life twice, but it was saved after several rescues.
"I looked at her, prayed countless times, lost countless times, and took away her strong will bit by bit with sorrow. It's really hard for you to open your mouth to disturb a mother who wants her child back from death many times. You can only give it silently. Accompaniment." Wu Xiuzhi said, unexpectedly, when she carefully proposed organ donation, she got consent.
Yu Xiang’s mother said that Yu Xiang had a kind heart since she was a child. When the mother and son walked on the street, they would always give help as much as they could when they saw people begging. When they saw the sweating sanitation workers, the children would always ask their mothers to buy them. Give them water...
This mother, who is about to be separated from her son, insists that her child must be willing to be proud of helping others extend their lives after they pass away.
Wu Xiuzhi said that the day when the organ donation registration form was signed, it was freezing cold, but her heart was full of touch-not only will three lives be reborn as a result, but also because of the humanity radiated by the mother and child. , Let her clearly feel the baptism of life!
Several years later, on the Physician's Day, she told the story to thousands of representatives in the Great Hall of the People, hoping that this kind of goodwill would be passed on by more people.
Ma Wangzong, who is rooted in Huaihua, feels the same way.
He believes that such emotional see-saws and baptisms at work are quite stressful, and an indescribable entanglement is the driving force that drives him forward, and it is also a kind of restraint.
He said that although the department does not have rigid indicators for assessment, since it is responsible for this responsibility, it must continue to work hard.
However, in some remote mountainous areas, local customs can also cause unexpected difficulties for the donation work, even accounting for more than 60% of the total number of rejections.
"Many family members are actually willing, but they don't want to be pointed out after returning to their hometown."
He suggested that school education can be guided imperceptibly, or some lectures can be carried out, and the younger generation can face similar things calmly if they change their minds.
800 "relatives"
On the morning of June 22, Guo Yong's cell phone rang quickly: a family member of a donor in Shaodong County, Hunan Province called for help. His own brother was injured and his optic nerve may be damaged.
Since the local county hospital could not perform this operation, he expected to come to the Second Xiangya Hospital for treatment.
However, currently there are no beds in the ophthalmology department of the Second Xiangya Hospital, worrying that it will delay the treatment of the other party, so Guo Yong called a friend at the Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, hoping to help.
"You buy a car, and the 4S shop will do after-sales service for you. Donors are people who have saved other people's lives. We naturally also do free'after-sales service'-helping people contact the doctor." Guo Yong said, To some extent, he is equivalent to a family member of more than 800 donor families.
When coordinating organ donation, he and his colleagues invisibly established a special relationship and connection with the donor's family.
Many people will come to them if they encounter problems in seeing a doctor.
Guo Yong said frankly that with the increase in the number of people seeking help, they are now obviously unable to bear the burden.
For this reason, he has made many suggestions with the Hunan Provincial Red Cross and organized relevant volunteer service teams.
For example, he said that at the current rate, the total number of donations received by hospital OPOs in 10 years can exceed 2,000.
The medical assistance and contact of 2,000 families is obviously not something that 10 people in their department can afford.
Coordinator Wu Xiuzhi has the same situation.
She said that on July 10, a donor's family member called and said that his father had a brain stroke and wanted to seek help in the neurology department.
Because no one in the family studied medicine, Wu Xiuzhi would help them refer to any medical discomforts before, or go to the hospital to find a professor for a look.
A coordinator said that during the New Year, I often receive text messages from donors’ family members, which is very heartwarming.
"Especially older people, he will treat you as a relative in his heart, when his original child becomes a kind of sustenance." When encountering such "relatives" asking for medical services, he will seriously implement them, lest he fail. This kind of trust.
Peng Yuankai, director of the transplantation department of the Second Xiangya Hospital, revealed that after 10 years of development, organ donation has become increasingly familiar to people. With the improvement of the country's medical standards and guarantee capabilities, and the improvement of people's living standards, there is a higher demand for medical services.
From the analysis of the transplant operation data, the ratio of demand to donation is still as high as 30 times.
On the other hand, the donation rate of millions of people across the country is only four per million, less than one tenth compared with European and American countries.
Many patients have lost opportunities because of the long wait.
Guo Yong said that as a senior OPO person, he can deeply feel the "negative energy" gathered by his colleagues in the success or failure of organ donation. There are not only the pressure of being urged by the mission, but also the experience of life and death. depressed.
"There is an urgent need for a psychological counseling and decompression mechanism that can dispel the gloom of the practitioners." He said that it may not only be his colleagues in the hospital, but also the 10 hospitals in Hunan that can perform transplant operations. OPO practitioners are eagerly looking forward to the optimization and change of the professional environment.
China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily reporter Hong Kefei Source: China Youth Daily
July 23, 2021 08 Edition