Scouts

Quinton Courts received a tissue transplant 10 days after he was born.

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Dear Scout Leader,
There are more than 103,000 Americans currently on the waiting list for a life-saving organ transplant. Maybe you know one, or perhaps one of your scouts has a family member or touched by this critical need. Regrettably, 18 people die each day because of the shortage of organs donated for transplantation.

Lifeline of Ohio, Girl Scouts of Ohio's Heartland and the Boy Scouts of America have teamed up to help ensure that everyone can make an informed decision about donation by offering programs for your scouts. Lifeline of Ohio will provide training materials, buy the patches for the scouts, and help you educate your scouts about donation and the critical importance of having a family discussion about donation.

Girl Scouts

Scout Out: Organ Donation

Our program is a workshop that educates Girl Scouts about the importance of organ, tissue & eye donation and the necessity of having a family discussion.

Through the use of interactive lessions, testimonials from those touched by donation, games and other educational activities, the scouts will learn about the organs, their functions and how transplantation of them takes place. Through the use of various scenarios illustrating the need for transplantation, the students will be able to work together to create a fair and equitable way to share organs that are in deperately short supply. We will then take a look at how organs are assigned to a particular indvidual and help them determine how their system is similiar or different from the national one.

Additionally, we will discuss how tissue donation can save limbs, restore sight and help over a million Americans heal every year.

We have three workshops scheduled for Fall of 2009 and Winter of 2010 at our Columbus Office, or a modified version of the program can be presented at a scout meeting. Based on the age group of the scouts, we add or subtract content to match their level of understanding so that everyone can participate and contribute to the day.

At the completion of the program, each scout will recieve a Donate Life patch and written materials to take home and share with family and friends.

The first Girl Scout It Out: Organ Donation workshop will be held on October 18, 2009. To register please visit: http://tinyurl.com/ScoutOut

Boy Scouts

The Donor Awareness Patch requires that the scouts learn about donation and then go home and discuss donation with 3 family members. The educaton of the scouts can be accomplished by having the scout leader present donation information to their Troop or having a representative of Lifelineof Ohio (staff or volunteer) present at the scout meeting, answer questions and give the scouts all the information they need to understand donation, its impact on individuals and the community, and the necessity of talking to their family aboutdonation.

Here you will find Tips for Troop Discussions and Questions for Group Discussions to help educate you about organ and tissue donation.

Also available here is a Request Form (*in pdf format) for the materials needed for your scouts, the Requirements by Boy Scouts of America for earning a "Donor Awareness" badge coupled with the process of requesting the patches from Lifeline of Ohio. If at any time you have questions, please feel free to contact us and we will help you through each stage of the process.

Sincerely,
Lifeline of Ohio Community Education Staff

*If you do not have the pdf reader click here

Tips for Scout Troop Discussion on Organ and Tissue Donation

Answer questions honestly and to the best of your ability. If you do not know an answer, simply explain that you are not sure and contact Lifeline of Ohio for the correct information.

We encourage you to utilize the outline provided to guide your discussion on organ and tissue donation with your scouts. Depending upon your time constraints you may need to adapt it to best suit your needs.

After the initial information session, follow up with a discussion at the next troop meeting. Examples of activities/questions that can help to evaluate your scouts' understanding include:

Review the basic donation information.
Did the scouts fulfill their requirements for the patch?
When talking about donation with their family and other families, how did it go?
What were the family's opinions about donation?
What questions arose?
Did any of the adults who were talked to have misconceptions that the scout learned were not true?
Do the scouts have any other questions about organ and tissue donation?

Outline/Questions to Help Lead A Group Discussion on Organ & Tissue Donation

Introduce topic of organ and tissue donation
Use your personal connection or what has interested you in discussing organ or tissue donation with the group if it is applicable. Ask scouts if they have heard of organ and tissue donation. Also ask them what organ and tissue donation means in an attempt to get them to verbalize what they believe or know.

What organs and tissues can be donated?
In general, it is only after a person has died that organs and tissues can be donated. There are living donors, particularly with kidney transplants in which a living person can donate a kidney to someone else. (Most people have two kidneys and only need one to live so they can donate one to someone else and both people can live normal lives.) There is research and other studies being done to determine other ways for living people to be donors because there is such a drastic shortage and so many people are dying while waiting.

Who benefits from organ and tissue donation?

Recipients: Those who receive a transplant and are given a second chance at life.
Recipient families: They continue to have their loved one in their life.
Donor families: Families that say yes to organ or tissue donation are helped because it is something positive that can come from such a tragic situation.

What are some things they have heard about organ and tissue donation?
These do not have to be things they actually believe, just things that they have heard people say about donation. Try to use this to lead into a discussion of common misconceptions.

Do you know of anyone who has been impacted by donation?
(These can be people they know personally or famous people they have heard about- including people who have had a transplant, people waiting for a transplant, people who are living donors, people who were donors when they died, etc.)

A few examples of famous people they may have heard of include:

Mickey Mantle: Liver Recipient
Sean Elliott: Kidney Recipient
Walter Payton: Had needed a liver transplant, but did not receive a transplant in time and eventually died
Barry White: Died waiting for a kidney transplant
Senator Mike DeWine: Donor Family, daughter was a tissue donor
Alonzo Mourning: Kidney Recipient
Carson Palmer: Cincinnati Bengals quarterback who received a tissue donation to repair torn knee ligaments

What should you do if you want to be an organ and tissue donor?

Register your wishes on your driver's license or state identification card.
Talk to your family.

Do you have any questions about organ and tissue donation?
Use this as an opportunity to clear up any other questions individuals might have. If you are unsure, please contact Lifeline of Ohio for more information.