Flag honors life-saving donors at Kaiser Permanente Redwood City

Four times this year, a very special flag has flown at very special times over the Kaiser Permanente Redwood City Medical Center.  Directly beneath the Stars and Stripes and the California Bear Flag is a white banner with the words “Donate Life” in a blue and lime square.

                “April is ‘Donate Life’ month, and we put the flag up then,” says Nora Tam, Operations Specialist in the KP Redwood City Nursing Department.  “But we’ve also started flying the flag as a special tribute.”

                Four times this year at Kaiser Permanente Redwood City, the families of patients at the end stages of life have agreed to honor their loved ones wishes to be organ donors, and save other lives.

                “It’s a very emotional time,” says Cathy Parker, RN, Clinical Adult Services Director at Kaiser Permanente Redwood City. “We decided to fly the flag, as a tribute to the families, and to honor the donors as well.”

                After the family agrees to the donation, they are told about the “Donate Life” flag which has been hoisted onto the flagpole in front of the KP Redwood City Hospital. Parker says that several times, family members are so touched by the gesture that they have asked to be photographed in front of the “Donate Life” flag.  The father of a recent donor videotaped the flag -raising

                But it was felt that something more could be done to honor the donor families. Nora Tam worked with Kaiser Permanente Chief Nursing Officer Barbara VanAmburg to develop a simple bookmark. It shows a photo of the Donate Life flag and a brief inscription. It says:

                                “The Donate life flag will be flying for you and your loved one during this time of courage and selflessness.  Your decision to donate has saved and connected more lives”

                Tam says, “Something as small as a bookmark and as tangible as flying a flag gives a great sense of our respect, comfort and support to the donor family.”

                Many families ask for multiple copies of the bookmark to share with other relatives.

                ‘We work closely with the California Transplant Donor Network (CTDN),” says Parker.  “They handle all the arrangements of consulting with the family and doing the actual donation.”

                Potential organ donors are those who’ve put a pink donation “dot” on their driver’s license. Still, the patient’s family must agree to their wishes.

                According to CTDN, thousands of Californians are awaiting organ transplants, everything from kidneys to corneas to hearts, and many die waiting.

                The Donor Network has commended KP Redwood City on their program, and recently, Kaiser Permanente did a presentation about their Redwood City flag-raising as an example of patient empathy at the annual Caritas Consortium Conference.

                “Putting up the Donate Life flag is a small way to honor a decision that can save someone’s life,” says Parker.