Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Hawaii’s organ donations
work without a registryQuestion: In a 1999 Kokua Line, you state that Hawaii did not have a donor registry. Is that still the case or is Hawaii now on board in regards to a donor registry?
Answer: Hawaii still doesn't have a registry.
However, a new law that took effect in July 2001 allows organ procurement organizations 24-hour telephone access to Hawaii's driver's license database "solely for the purpose of determining whether a driver has indicated a willingness to be an organ donor."
"That's really significant because if a Hawaii driver has 'organ donor' on their license, all we have to do is call the police department and give them a security code," said Robyn Kaufman, executive director of the Organ Center of Hawaii.
The only information given is whether the words "organ donor" are on a license, she said.
In Kaufman's opinion, that's "significantly simpler and less expensive than a database and works just as well."
In the year and a half since that law has been in effect, the consent rate for donations has been 100 percent among families of the deceased who had indicated a desire to be an organ donor, she said.
Fred Safi, executive director of the Hawaii Lions Eye Bank and the Makana Foundation, agreed that access to the driver's license database is working well.
He noted that the Makana Foundation had a donor registry, "which we discontinued in the mid-1990s" because it wasn't working. People would send in donor cards, but "we didn't get a single donor from those cards," he said.
Kaufman and Safi emphasized that even though someone may indicate "organ donor" on a license or donor card, his or her family must give official consent. That's why it's important for people to inform their families of their wishes.
Meanwhile, the Hawaii Coalition of Donation may try to expand the 2001 access law to state ID cards, to reach people, especially seniors, who may not drive, Safi said. People now can designate "organ donor" on state ID cards.
The coalition, which includes such organizations as the Eye Bank, Organ Donor Center, National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii and Hawaii Heart Association, works to promote organ tissue donation.
Q: How do I go about taking my name off as an organ donor? I have "organ donor" noted on my driver's license. A few years ago I was healthy. But now at my senior age, I no longer wish to be an donor.
A: Just having the words "organ donor" on your driver's license or having a donor card does not mean you will automatically become a donor.
Your family must give permission. That's why you should always tell your family if you wish to be a donor. Conversely, you should tell your family that you do not wish to be a donor.
There is no "list" of organ donors compiled from the driver's license database, although organ procurement organizations can find out if someone has indicated a willingness to be a donor (see above), said Dennis Kamimura, the city's motor vehicle and licensing administrator.
To get the words "organ donor" removed from your license, you need to apply for a duplicate license, which costs $5. Take in your current license, fill out an application making sure you do not indicate "organ donor," inform the counter clerk that you do not wish to be a donor and, when you get your license, make sure it does not say "organ donor," Kamimura advised.
For more information, contact the Hawaii Coalition on Donation at 737-1719 or check its Web site at www.hcod.org, or call the Organ Donor Center of Hawaii at 599-7630.
Mischief can be deadly
Michele Hansarick, of Harrisburg, Pa., e-mailed us a story from a Pennsylvania newspaper after reading on-line the "auwe" from a motorist in Monday's Kokua Line about a boy throwing soda off an H-1 Freeway overpass, potentially causing an accident."I am sure that the boy in this story never intended to kill anyone," she noted, referring to a Jan. 8 story in The Morning Call.
The story said 15-year-old Dennis Gumbs of Allentown, Pa., was charged with homicide after a chunk of ice he threw off a freeway overpass shattered the windshield of a van. The van was driven by William Cowell, who was with his wife and their three children. The ice chunk fatally injured Elaine Cowell, 33. Gumbs was charged with one count of criminal homicide, one count of propulsion of a missile into an occupied vehicle or onto a roadway, and four counts of reckless endangerment.
"When I read Kokua Line about the soda can thrown from the overpass, I just thought maybe a real life example of the consequences of an 'innocent prank' added another dimension to the story," said Hansarick, who regularly visits family in Hawaii. "Not only did someone die, but the boy in Pennsylvania has, quite possibly, permanently destroyed his future."
Corrected numbers
Please note these changes to numbers to call to report damaged street lights or signs, which were published last Sunday:Street light outages: City streets, call 564-6113; state DOT hotline, 831-6714. Street signs that are damaged/missing/faded: Call the city, 484-7613/484-7644.
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Useful phone numbers
Got a question or complaint?
Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered.
E-mail to kokualine@starbulletin.com