Anatomy Gifts Registry

I.major accomplishment in 2022: a. agf maintained its accreditation by the american association of tissue banks (aatb) as a non-transplant donation organization upon passing our on-site every three-year cycle accreditation inspection; with a level a designation. B. agf senior staff-members have donated their time as member participants in various organizations and projects in the furtherance non-transplant Anatomic donation (nado) and medical education communities; including but not limited to: aatb (nado council, education committee, membership committee, educational webinar presenter - most importantly election to the board of governors of aatb in 2022 ), association for bioskills laboratory excellence (able: board member, guidance document committee, membership committee), c. all staff who were due to submit their certified tissue bank specialist (ctbs) continuing education units (ceu)s to re-certify with aatb in year 2022 have done so and have kept their certification. D. agf maintained its new york license as a non-transplant Anatomic bank. E. agf maintained its licenses & permits by the Maryland board of morticians for operating a crematory; as well as for mortuary transporters f. agf passed all safety and environmental inspections by various entities, i.e., fire marshall, Maryland department of environment (both air & radiation), etc. G. agf has continued its quality systems; which include regular auditing and reporting of findings. Ii. 2022 statistics: a. Donors 1. There was a total of 1484 donors in 2022 (representing an overall 3% increase from that in 2021) due to the gradual loosening of the pandemic concerns (local, state and federal health department advice & individuals' concerns for potential infection, there were severe restrictions on gathering size, inter-state travel, etc., placed on the number of medical education training sessions. Agf continued covid-19 screening and testing protocols and kept up with breaking news in a quickly evolving pandemic concerns). Throughout the year, to keep pace with the somewhat in clients' needs increasing (over initial pandemic 2020 and 2021 needs), agf continued its coverage area to its home state of Maryland; and then regional states, and gradually added pre-registered donors from states out of area. The breakdown of donors by area were: md 38%, regional 33% and out-of-area 18%. Many potential donors who had either contracted covid-19, had symptoms without a negative test, or had direct contact with someone infected with covid-19 were not accepted; regardless of geographic area. 2. Each donor is evaluated based on a myriad of items to make an individualized tissue recovery plan. Considerations are made as to age, sex, surgical hx, pathology, bone & joint quality, etc., as well as any requests from the donor before their death or from their next of kin as to preference for placement to any disease or type of surgery or specific use). 3. These accomplishments were indeed challenging due to being short-staffed after several employees did not return to work as business gradually resumed towards historically normal number in 2022. However, the commitment to the organization's mission continued to be demonstrated by all of those in middle and upper management, along with some new staff, and kept things going and on track with fewer staff. B. Future donors: in 2022 we continued to accept applications to be pre- registered with agf to be future donors. This information is reviewed, cataloged and entered into our database for future retrieval, to assist the families at the time of death. Donor and family services coordinator staff contact our registered future donors every few years to update their medical records and next-of-kin contact information. Of the 1483 donors in 2022: 1. Future donors / willed body donors (657) comprised 44% . 2. Funeral home referrals (125) comprised 8% 3. Local organ/tissue/eye banks (48) comprised 3% 4. Hospice referrals comprised 10%. 5. Hospital / facility referrals also comprised 10%. 6. Friend / family referrals comprised 8% 7. On-line / internet searches comprised 5%. 8. Other / uncategorized comprised 11% 9. 59 future donors / willed body donors who were denied for donation (usually due to an acquired or previously unknown contagious disease) 10. Ten (10) potential donors were declined at time of donation (not pre- registered). 11. Pre-registered / willed or at need donors that were cancelled by the donor or donor's next of kin was 40. 12. Pre-registered / willed donors from md 373; or 34% 13. Pre-registered / willed donors from regional states (that can drive cases to us were 507; or 46% 14. Pre-registered / willed donors from out of area were 224; or 20% c. tissue placement & use: a total of 10954 specimens were placed to approved human tissue applicants in 2022 (a nearly 50% increase over 2021); fulfilling 1,906 client requests for tissue in both our in-house bioskills lab use; or as shipments to clients' facilities (which is the predominance of placements at 1843 separate shipments in 2022). This was a 7% increase from 2021. Some of the new applications of our provided tissue specimens in 2022 included: migraine implant; transplant training- actual organ transplants liver, kidney; advanced kidney stone treatment; as well as cirrhosis & liver cancer early identification markers for advanced treatments. 1. In-house specimen use: we accommodated 71 on-site "bioskills lab events in 2022, serving hundreds of learners. 2. A total of 250 (a 41% increase over 2021) specimens were used on site with our in-house bioskills lab facility: we hosted and provided specimens for 64 lab sessions in 2022. The breakdown by type was: a. Physician / surgeon training: 26 sessions (4 more / 18% more than 2021) b. Rescue / life-saving / ems training (Anatomy and procedure practicum labs: 44 sessions (5 more / 13% more than 2021). C. student /Anatomy and procedure practicum lab events (includes high school level, college level and physician assistant education sessions): with a total of 1 session in this genre (2 less than 2021). Some of the increase of the number of total specimens and labs was influenced by more frequent labs with more specimens being requested. The decrease in student labs was due to lack of staff to facilitate them; as well as continued covid-19 concerns in large group sessions. 3. Additional services provided to tissue applicants is to assist in tissue evaluation both prior to its placement and in its use. For instance, in 2022, we performed (or effectuated the performance of) 326 various scans (c-arm, ct & dxa) 4. Agr staff accompanied 350 tissue shipments; per request of the researcher or medical educator. Iii. Program initiatives that assist the organization to meet organizational goals: 1. Public & professional educational / outreach activities 2022: these activities have increased significantly due to the somewhat curtailing of the pandemic. We anticipate being able to increase our public education outreach activities even more in 2023. A. nj homecare and hospice annual conference (tabled/sponsored event) b. jacksonville senior center: presentation c. memory cafe via aa co dept of aging brief presentation d. llf family fun run 2022 (tabled/sponsored event) e. hospice & palliative care network of md annual conference (tabled/sponsored event) f. mailed marketing boxes out to 2 new hospices (crater community hospice and willow tree hospice) september 2022, as well as many other hospice organizations/ social workers throughout the months of may 2022- dec 2022 (accent care hospice, hospice of the chesapeake, promedica hospice). G. presentation with core (opo in pa) h. presentations by key staff regarding non-transplant anatomical donation (nado) organizations' work via both in-person and recorded talks and seminars; which were seen by numerous members of the tissue and organ transplant community via aatb's national meetings and educational webinar series (live and recorded). 2. Staff education, credentialing and continuing education a. american association of tissue banks: certified tissue bank specialist (ctbs) staff certification and on-going continuing education (continually accrue the required 40 ceus over every 3 years to maintain certification). B. Majority of management (8 / 8 staff) have the ctbs credential. This is a continued trend from last year. C. continuing education, as required to maintain staff's various licenses (i.e. Mortician's license and registered dietitcian) d. suicide prevention education e. medical education: terminology, normal aging, diseases, disease agents, surgical procedures, etc. Through web-based programs by american nurses' association, rn.com, american association of tissue banks, association of operating room nurses, medline university, pfeidler enterprises, etc. F. in-house education regarding blood-borne pathogen, exposure control plan, hazardous communication, human dignities act, etc. G. crematory operator