MCG

Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia

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February 23, 1983 Volume 4, NtomtrerTTS*'

National Organ Donor Week brings awareness of need

February 28 through March 5 has been designated National Organ Donor Week.

"The week is being set aside to increase the pub¬ lic's awareness of organ donation and transplants," says Mary Anne House, trans¬ plant coordinator for MCG's Kidney Procurement Program.

She says MCG's donor program is very active and has expanded from kidneys to hearts and other organs and more recently, skin for transplant to patients with severe burns. Linked with an international net¬ work of transplant coor¬ dinators, MCG has a satel¬ lite program established in Savannah.

According to House, 40 cadaver kidneys and 121 corneas were donated at MCG for transplant in 1982. In addition, five hearts were donated. Seven ca¬ daver livers were donated, four of which were used for transplant and three for research into inborn metabolic problems. Seven pancreases were donated for research into pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis. There was one skin donor.

Twenty-four kidney transplants were performed at Talmadge Memorial Hos¬ pital in 1982 and 36 cor¬ nea transplants.

While heart and liver transplants are not per¬ formed at Talmadge, the MCG transplant coordinators work with other teams to match donated organs with recipients and also pro¬ vide assistance to the transplant teams that come to retrieve the organs. House explains. She says there are only three places in the United States trans¬ planting livers, with 95 percent of the transplant operations being done at the University of Pitts¬

burgh. Transplants of hearts

and heart valves are done at approximately 12 hos¬ pitals in the country.

House says time is im¬ portant in all transplants, but is most critical when a heart is removed.

She says a transplant team will fly to a donor hospital and while the heart is being removed, another team is beginning surgery on the patient in the recipient hospital. The transplant must be done within three-and-a- half to four hours after removal.

Kidneys, if preserved on ice, can be held for 24 to 3(i hours before trans¬ plant and if on a kidney machine, 72 hours. Livers can be preserved up to 12 hours and eyes, 24 to 72 hours, depending on how they are preserved.

House says the first kidney transplant was done in 1954 in Boston and the first heart transplant in 1967 in South Africa by Dr. Christian Barnard. The first liver transplant was in 1963.

The decision to donate specific organs or any organs that are needed for transplant, medical re¬ search or education at the time of a person's death can be made and recorded on an organ donor card at any time. House says it is advised that people wishing to make such dona¬ tions be sure their next of kin know of their de¬ sires.

Donor cards are avail¬ able through the Kidney Foundation, the American Kidney Fund and the Georgia Lions Eye Bank.

It was a smashing game! The faculty beat the students 21-14 in the first annual volleyball game between junior nursing students and nursing faculty. Above, Assistant Dean David Bass spikes the ball to the competition.

Unpaid tickets can lead to tow on city streets

MCG employees who may have received but not paid City of Augusta parking tickets for parking on yellow curbs or parking overtime on city streets around MCG are advised the Augusta Police Department is working on tow lists.

According to Captain David Jones of the APD, this means if they find a car parked on a city street with a tag number that corresponds to a '".ag number on their list, they will tow it.

Towing will cost the car's owner the amount of the unpaid tickets plus an impound/towing fee and a storage fee.

The captain says a per¬ son gets on the towing list by accumulating more than six dollars worth of

parking tickets. He says

paying the back tickets will remove a person from the tow list.

Notice The Faculty Manual

and Orientation sub¬ committee of the Fac¬ ulty Affairs Committee requests that any fac¬ ulty member who is aware of changes that need to be made in the MCG Faculty Manual should contact Donna Fair in the School of Nursing.

The Faculty Manual is updated periodical¬ ly and contains infor¬ mation concerning the rights and responsi¬ bilities of faculty members at MCG.

Direct deposit now offered by ten local banks There are now ten banks

in the Augusta area that work with MCG to offer automatic deposit of pay¬ roll checks. The service is available to all employ¬ ees. All an employee has to do is go by either the Personnel office or Payroll and sign up.

Instead of a check each pay period, the employee will receive a pay slip showing gross pay, deduc¬

tions and net pay deposited. This is done on or before payday.

The advantages of auto¬ matic deposit to the em¬ ployee include no possibil¬ ity of theft, loss of check or forgery. The deposit will be made if the em¬ ployee is on vacation or sick. In addition, there is no standing in long lines on payday.

Banks working with MCG

to offer this service in¬ clude the Citizens and Southern National Bank, the Georgia State Bank, First National Bank and Trust, Bankers Trust, Georgia Railroad Bank and Trust, South Carolina National Bank, First Bank (First National of Atlanta), First Federal Savings and Loan, Georgia Federal Savings and Loan and Security Federal.

Medical transcriptionists form organization for CSRA at MCG A local chapter of the

American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT) held a recent organization¬ al meeting at MCG. About 40 medical transcription¬ ists from the CSRA attended.

Guest speakers at the meeting included Dr. Charles Wray, chief of staff at Talmadge Hospital and Lin Brown of New Orleans, representing Na¬ tional AAMT. She told the group some of the primary goals of the AAMT are to provide education for medical transcriptionists as well as open communica¬ tion with other health pro¬ fessionals. Brown added that under development at this time is a comprehen¬ sive medical transcription course of study, college degree or certificate pro¬ gram for the transcrip¬ tionists which will meet the accreditation standards of the American Medical Association.

Currently, a national examination to certify qualified medical tran¬

scriptionists is adminis¬ tered periodically through¬ out the United States. Those who are certified are required to earn 30 con¬ tinuing education credits over a three-year period

to maintain certification status.

The CSRA chapter of AAMT will begin monthly meetings in the near future. Anyone wishing to join the organization

or having suggestions for programs should contact Joanie Williford at ext. 2008 or Reba Carmain at Doctor's Hospital at 863-3232, ext. 287.

Head nurses in Talmadge Hospital feasted last week at a luncheon given in their honor by the Department of Nursing Services. Given on Valentines's Day, the luncheon was to let the nurses know they are considered "sweethearts" and to say thanks for a job well done.

News briefs Fire seminar set

The Public Safety Di¬ vision will sponsor a home fire safety seminar on March 2 at 1 pm in room 130 of the Auditoria Center. The seminar will deal with such topics as smoke de¬ tectors, fire prevention and how to escape fires in the home.

Phil Thiel, safety man¬ ager for the Public Safety Division, will discuss these topics and other areas of interest. The program will last approxi¬ mately one hour. Public Safety urges all interested faculty, staff and students to attend.

Free program offered Two free classes in the

on-line and manual use of Excerpta Medica will be held at the Library on March 9 and 10.

The March 9 program is for beginners and will be held from 9 am until 4 pm. The advanced program will be held March 10 from 9

am until 1:15 pm. Both sessions will be in room 211 of the Library.

Excerpta Medica is a major medical abstract service covering human medicine. The service's database coverage includes drug literature, environ¬ mental health and pollution control, health economics and hospital management and forensic science.

For further iaformation call Gail Anderson or Lyn Dennison at ext. 2992.

Ride wanted

Wanted, a ride or car- pool from the Windsor Spring Road, Young Forest Drive area. Hours are from 8:30 am until 5 pm. Call Joyce at ext. 2856 or 2857.

For sale Mediterranean style bedroom set. In- eludes double bed and chest of drawers/d resser with mirror. Set is in good condition. Asking $350 or best offer. Call Rita at

Calendar Monday 2/28 Organ Donor Week begins

March is... National Nutrition Month

Hemophilia Month

Red Cross Month

Pazn Kaminski, a dental hygiene student at MCG, shows children at the recent Toothtown Carnival the finer points of having cleaner teeth. The carnival was part of Children's Dental Health Month.

Notables GRANTS

E.G. ABRAHAM PhD, cell and molecular biology, received $48,408 from National Institutes of Health for "Minor Fetal Hemoglobin Components."

L.C. HARTLAGE PhD, Neu¬ rology and Pediatrics, N. DeFilippis PhD, private- practice, C. Telzrow PhD, Cuyahoga Special Education Center and M. NOONAN MA, Neurology, wrote "Person¬ ality Correlates of Func¬ tional Cerebral Asymmetry in Preschool Children," Clinical Neuropsychology 5(1):14-15, 1983.

HARTLAGE and H. FLANIGIN MD, Neurology and Neuro¬ surgery, wrote "An abbre¬

viated intracarotid amytal testing procedure," abstract in Clinical Neuropsychology 5(l):42-43, 1983.

HARTLAGE presented "Coping with problems of learning disabled adoles¬ cents" at 1983 International Association for Children with Learning Disabilities annual meeting, Washington, D.C., Feb., 1983.

Division of Institutional Relations Medical College of Georgia Augusta, Georgia 30912

A Unit of the University System of Georgia

This employee newsletter is Associate Director. published weekly by the Division of Institutional Relations James C Austin. Director Correspondence should be directed lo MCG Beeper AMOS

Bob Wilson

Editor John Donnelly Associate Editor: Mandy Roth