Provisions in Obamacare will make getting approved for an organ transplant much easier. Unfortunately the supply of organs is still very low, meaning the chances of getting a transplant are still unlikely. Much the difficulty in obtaining organs comes from a delay in the ability to harvest. So in an effort to get more organs harvested, Paramedics will be trained to accomplish the task, on scene.

Doctor Wellington Yueh a former paramedic turned heart surgeon is spearheading this program. NREMW (National Registry of Emergency Medical Workers) has already pledged their support. The AMA is reviewing the idea and seems likely to approve because the organ donors are dead.

Dr. Yueh had this to say about the new initiative.

“We see many instances of Paramedics being on scene where a person is obviously deceased. But because police and the coroner have reams of paperwork to complete the body sits in the scene for hours. By that time none of the organs are viable for harvest anymore. This new protocol will get transplant surgeons the needed organs, yet still keep the bodies on scene for the cops.”

In addition to special training, paramedics will also need some new equipment for organ harvesting. An extremely sterile kit will be added to ambulances staffed by organ harvesters. The kit will include a number of surgical scalpels, saws, bone cutters and clamps. In addition the ambulances will be outfitted with a chilled storage box.

Professor Paul Atreides Criminal Justice department chair at the University of Duncan, Idaho is apposed to this idea.

“There is no way we can let these ambulance drivers cut open people at a scene like that. Anytime someone dies outside of a hospital setting the police need to do a complete investigation. I realize the idea here is to save lives. But the cost is too high. How many criminals will get away with murder because some medic screws up a crime scene doing surgery on a dead guy?”

Margot Fenring the Dean of EMS at the Ben Gesserit College sees this as a great opportunity.

“We have some very well trained paramedics that can do many of the life saving skills any ER doctor can. Keep in mind our paramedics do medical procedures in a space 1/8 the size of an ER that is traveling at 50MPH. With that level of skill they can easily recover human organs from the dead. Obviously I do have some bias as my staff is currently developing classes to teach these skills. But the key point is that this will save lives. Viable organs were going without harvesting due to bureaucratic red tape. Now those organs will be collected and transplanted into people who will get to live.”

No word on when the program will be implemented. Rumor has it that limited markets will be tested during 2014. If results are positive by early 2015 paramedics should be in the organ harvesting business.