Golden State Donor Services selected Sacramento State to receive the Community Partner for Life Award for its support in organ and tissue donation.

Golden State Donor Services, a nonprofit organ procurement organization based in Northern California, gives the award in recognition for a significant achievement or effort that aids organ and tissue donation. For helping the organization create a medical instruction video, Sac State will be presented with the award Sept. 29.

To help in the making of the video, Sac State supplied the organization with facilities, equipment, film editing and scriptwriters.

“We could not have done this without CSUS,” said Katherine Doolittle, community outreach manager of Golden State Donor Services. “The expertise at that campus has been so moving.”

The instruction video “Keep Hope Alive” tells the fictional story of a man who dies in a car accident, ultimately to become an organ donor. The video, intended to capture both the medical process and emotional experience of organ donation, includes scenes with paramedics collecting the body; physicians determining the possibility of donation; and a family care coordinator consoling the deceased man’s wife.

“The whole purpose of this is to train people so that lives are saved and that’s the bottom line: increasing organ donation,” said Michaeline Veden, executive manager of Academic Technology and Creative Services at Sac State.

Also included in “Keep Hope Alive” are factual accounts by family members who have lost loved ones who donated, as well as statements by professionals in the organ donation field.

Cherry Wise, clinical psychologist for the California Transplant Donor Network, said in the video no family has ever shown regret in agreeing to organ donation, yet some have shown grief when never having the option.

“That could happen because care of the patient was discontinued prematurely, (or) because the process moved too quickly … they were deprived of the benefits that come from knowing that you’ve been able to make a decision that made a positive impact on other people’s lives,” Wise said in the video. “(That) the loss of your loved one was not totally in vain.”

For seven years, Golden State Donor Services has annually presented a Community Partner for Life Award to an individual, corporation and media agency. Sac State, selected for the corporation category, will be the first university to receive the award.

Tracy Bryan, Golden State Donor Services spokeswoman, said giving the Community Partner for Life Award to Sac State was not a difficult decision.

“Usually there’s one that stands out above all the others because they’ve gone so far above and beyond, and that was the case with CSUS,” Bryan said. “Though we had other corporations that were helpful, CSUS left the competition in the dust.”

Veden said Sac State is honored to receive the award as a symbol of its partnership with Golden State Donor Services.

“It’s always nice to receive a production award, and we receive many production awards, but this one holds a special place in our hearts because it recognizes the service that Sac State provides the community, and the outreach that we do,” Veden said. “Ultimately, we’re saving lives, teaching students, and getting involved with the community. That’s part of the university’s mission.”

More than 2,000 firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical technicians across the country have completed an online course based on the medical procedures taught in “Keep Hope Alive.” The video was so well received when shown during a national conference in Texas last fall that the course may also be used internationally, Veden said.

“(By) leveraging the expertise and resources that they were able to provide, plus our (own) … we were able to make a product that’s used in our nursing program that we otherwise probably wouldn’t even be able to develop,” Veden said. “So it was a win-win. Golden State Donor Services got the first-responder video, and we then repurposed it specifically for our nursing students, and as a third product, it’s used as in-service training for hospital staff around Sacramento.”

By having “Keep Hope Alive” shown in classrooms, Golden State Donor Services not only intends to educate medical students, but also spread organ donation awareness throughout the entire university, Doolittle said.

“Organ donation, especially among young people, is not very high a priority,” Doolittle said. “Actually, it’s the smallest population group that signs up. To get this kind of awareness on your campus is critical for saving lives. It’s such a great partnership for us. We’re just thrilled.”

“Keep Hope Alive” will also instruct medical students more efficiently, Doolittle said.

“Some of my colleagues across the country do trainings, but they’re much more individualized and hands-on, so they can’t reach everybody,” Doolittle said. “Now here’s this (video) that will make it very, very easy.”

If interested in becoming an organ or tissue donor, visit www.donatelifecalifornia.org. The option is also offered when applying for or renewing a driver’s license.

“We have great need in this state, and every person who signs up has the potential to save eight lives by becoming an organ donor and improve another 50 lives through tissue donation,” Bryan said. “Anyone can be a hero.”

Micah Stevenson can be reached at [email protected].