WHEREAS, over ninety-one thousand people in the United States are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant and a new name is added to the national wait list every thirteen minutes; and

WHEREAS, almost four hundred people in Hawaii are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant; and

WHEREAS, on average, Hawaii patients must wait from two to nine years to obtain an organ transplant, depending on blood type, and more than one person in Hawaii dies each month while waiting for an organ transplant; and

WHEREAS, one donor can donate up to eight healthy organs for transplant; and

WHEREAS, the Organ Donor Center of Hawaii is the federally designated organ procurement organization serving the State of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, staff of the Organ Donor Center of Hawaii must travel to seventeen acute care hospitals on all islands in the State to recover organs for transplant; and

WHEREAS, the sooner an organ can be transplanted, the better the outcome for the transplant recipient; and

WHEREAS, airline transportation is an integral part in the timely transport of life-saving organs between the islands of the State, as well as and to and from the continental United States; and

WHEREAS, all airlines serving Hawaii, except Hawaiian Airlines, are willing to transport organs for transplant; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, that Hawaiian Airlines is requested to reconsider its decision to disallow the transport of life saving organs for organ transplants on its flights; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hawaiian Airlines, the Executive Director of the Organ Donor Center, and the Director of Health.

Report Title:

Organ Transplant; Hawaiian Airlines