As a result of the need for tissue donations for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a nationwide plan has been developed to make tissue available in the event of future disasters.
Ellen Heck, administrative director of the Transplant Services Center at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, serves as head of the National Association of Tissue Banks committee that developed the plan.The committee divided the country into six geographic regions based on the location of tissue banks. The national office is prepared to handle calls from regions where emergencies arise and alert the bank closest to the site.UT Southwestern's Transplant Services Center, one of the country's pioneer tissue banks, sent skin to assist victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The effort prompted development of the nationwide plan."When there's a disaster, whether natural or man-made, everyone thinks about blood donations," Heck said. "This was the first time there was the same kind of need for skin."The tissue was used for skin grafts on burn victims being treated at the Washington Hospital Burn Center. The head of the burn center, Dr. Marian Jordan, requested assistance from UT Southwestern.Jordan completed his fellowship under UT Southwestern burn specialists Dr. Charles Baxter and Dr. John Hunt, professors of surgery.Due to the FAA's shutdown of the nation's air traffic, two transplant technicians volunteered to make the 1,300-mile journey by van with 70 square feet of donor skin specially stored for transportation.
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