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RETB/FLETB’s professional education program provides the healthcare professional with information regarding identification and referral of potential eye and tissue donors. We participate in orientation classes and staff in-services at hospitals and other healthcare facilities. We provide programs for medical and surgical residents that explain current policies and protocols for eye and tissue donation. The agency regularly presents several “Designated Requestor” training classes. These federally required classes instruct on how to offer the option for donation to grieving families, assuring informed decisions about donation. For more information about requestor training workshops please call the agency at 1-800-568-4321.
RETB/FLETB’s public education program helps people make educated choices about organ and tissue donation. Dispelling myths surrounding donation, providing accurate information and facilitating family discussions are all a part of our program’s goal. RETB/FLETB is a resource for organ and tissue donation information for you and your family. We participate in health fairs, community events and provide speakers for church, civic, school and business/special interest groups, at no charge. If you would like RETB/FLETB to be included in your next health fair or community event, or would like to schedule a presentation on organ and tissue donation, please contact the office at 1-800-568-4321.
For Teachers “An Educated Choice” classroom program “Wonderfully helpful – I probably wouldn’t have gotten around to develop this much on my own. I used the vocabulary words, fill in the blanks and word search materials.” Sixth Grade Health Teacher “The program really provoked students in a positive way. I’ve had numerous comments and questions since the program.” High School Biology Teacher Students from grades five through college level are introduced to the field of organ and tissue donation. We prepare students to make an educated choice about organ and tissue donation and to gain an understanding of its process and value. RETB/FLETB staff and volunteers provide accurate information and share personal transplant / donation experiences. Curriculum guides are available upon request. If you are interested in having a speaker visit your classroom, at no charge, please call the office at 1-800-568-4321. Annual Poster Contest The Rochester/Finger Lakes Eye & Tissue Bank (RETB/FLETB) and the Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network (FLDRN) each year sponsor the “Donate Life” poster contest for grades 5 – 12 in the Finger Lakes, Central and Northern NY regions. A grand prize winner is selected as well as four honorable mention winners. A prize is awarded to each. Posters are used by RETB/FLETB and FLDRN throughout the year on display boards, at community events and in the classroom to help educate the public about organ and tissue donation. If you would like information to be sent directly to you each year, please call our office at 1-800-568-4321. For Students Are you writing a paper on organ and tissue donation? Do you need to prepare a presentation for your public speaking course? Do you need materials to create a display? Would you like materials or donor pledge cards for your project? The RETB/FLETB is a resource for information. Browse the website for frequently asked questions and the answers, find out what tissues can be donated and how these tissues help people, or link to other informative sites, or call the office at 1-800-568-4321 to speak with someone or to have information sent to you.
Research is the gift of hope that has the potential to offer possibilities and new beginnings to hundreds of thousands of people every year. For generations to come, it is an essential means to ensuring continued technological and medical advances. Each year RETB/FLETB fulfills its mission by providing seed money to local investigators studying diseases of the visual system or organ and tissue transplantation and its underlying diseases. To view our current policy for grant funding, please visit NEWS and click on What’s New. Since the agency’s first unrestricted research grant was made in 1955 to the University of Rochester Medical School to establish an eye research program, RETB/FLETB has granted more than $1 million to local researchers. To view this year’s funded grants, please visit NEWS and click on Press Releases.
Ocular, musculoskeletal, skin and cardiovascular tissues are recovered by trained and certified RETB/FLETB tissue bank staff. Tissue bank coordinators then process, preserve and distribute this tissue for transplant, medical education and research. For information on what tissues are recovered and the medical applications for these, see the chart below. RETB/FLETB staff prepares research tissue to the exacting protocols of investigators working to find treatments and / or cures for a number of debilitating diseases and conditions. The agency partners with the National Disease Research Interchange, the Foundation for Fighting Blindness and the Glaucoma Research Foundation as well as individual investigators locally and throughout the nation.
The RETB/FLETB has maintained its own pledge card registry since 1952. In April 2004, the agency collaborated with Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network, the federally designated organ procurement organization in the Rochester and Syracuse regions to establish the Regional Donor Pledge Registry. Today, this registry of more than 90,000 pledge cards is maintained at the RETB/FLETB office. In 2008, a transition to the New York State Donate Life Organ and Tissue Donor Registry began. This registry is administered by the New York State Department of Health (DOH). By enrolling in the Donate Life Registry, you are giving legal consent for the recovery of your organs, tissues and eyes for the purpose of transplantation and/or research at the time of your death. Registry information is kept strictly confidential and can only be accessed by a) DOH employees when required for the performance of their official duties, b) federally regulated organ procurement organizations, c) New York State licensed tissue and eye banks, and d) other entities formally approved by the Commissioner. Such access can only be for the purpose of identifying potential organ and tissue donors at or near the time of death. How does the Donate Life registry Work?
Giving others a brighter tomorrow... If you have old eyeglasses that you aren’t wearing any longer, someone else could benefit. Eyeglasses that are dropped off at RETB/FLETB are collected by the central collection center for the Lions Club district and sent to a recycling center where they are sorted, cleaned, tested for prescription strength and labeled. The glasses are then sent to third world countries. You can drop off your eyeglasses at the RETB/FLETB office anytime during the week, Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, or mail them to Rochester/Finger Lakes Eye & Tissue Bank, 524 White Spruce Blvd., Rochester, NY, 14623. Please be sure to include your name and address so that we may send you a receipt to use for tax purposes.
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Professional Education
