Brief summary of the meeting of July 18 at noon at the Union League Club

On July 18 the Rotary Club of New York on the occasion of its weekly luncheon welcomed Scott Wohl from LiveOnNY. He has been graciously introduced to us by Caroline Rochon, spouse of President Shawn. Scott gave an impressive presentation on the need for organ donors and focus on many fine nuances involved in this.

Through donation, everyone has the opportunity to leave a legacy that saves and improves lives. Saying yes to donation allows an individual the opportunity to save up to eight lives through organ donation, and to save or improve the lives of up to 50 people through tissue and eye donation. Families that have donated have often expressed finding comfort in knowing that their loved one helped enhance the lives of others.

When is a person considered a potential donor?

All people can be considered a potential organ donor after death has been declared in a hospital setting. Nothing should be ruled out. A doctor will make a medical determination at the time of death. There are two ways to pronounce death. It may be pronounced when a person’s heart stops beating or when the brain stops functioning and the individual is declared brain dead by a physician.

In order to be an organ donor, a person must die in a hospital setting where doctors can immediately begin the transplant process. Because the process is different, a person who dies outside of a hospital setting can become a tissue and/or eye donor.

Understanding death
The Rotary Club of New York and its members and guests had the pleasure of having been introduced to Scott Wohl from LiveOnNY by Caroline Rochon, spouse of President Shawn. Scott gave a presentation on the importance of organ donations that his organization focuses on.

Through donation, everyone has the opportunity to leave a legacy that saves and improves lives. Saying yes to donation allows an individual the opportunity to save up to eight lives through organ donation, and to save or improve the lives of up to 50 people through tissue and eye donation. Families that have donated have often expressed finding comfort in knowing that their loved one helped enhance the lives of others.

When is a person considered a potential donor?

All people can be considered a potential organ donor after death has been declared in a hospital setting. Nothing should be ruled out. A doctor will make a medical determination at the time of death. There are two ways to pronounce death. It may be pronounced when a person’s heart stops beating or when the brain stops functioning and the individual is declared brain dead by a physician.

Death can take form in one of two ways: brain death or cardiac death. Both are medically determined and result with a time of death.

Brain death is determined through a series of clinical exams (usually done at the bedside) which provide confirmation that blood and oxygen can no longer flow to the brain for activity.

Cardiac death is determined after attempts at identifying a heartbeat are unsuccessful.

LiveOnNY adheres to New York State guidelines for declaration of death and verifies that donor hospital guidelines have been observed prior to proceeding with organ donation.

After the presentation Scott was presented with honorary membership in the Rotary Club of New York. 

We had the pleasure of one visiting Rotarian from Stockholm Sweden, Monika Linaite.

Furthermore as one of the highlights we have the honor of inducting our newest member Katherine Polynchuk into our club. She is a Restaurant Manager and eager to make a difference in our organization.