State Senator John Albers (R-GA) has applauded the passage of SB 58, Georgia Transporting Life-Saving Organs and Personnel Act, a bipartisan bill that allows "emergency organ transport vehicles to operate as ambulance services." The legislation would grant organ donation transport vehicles to be equipped with emergency lights and sirens like regular Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) vehicles so that they can be delivered to their necessary destination quickly and safely.
State Sen. Albers sponsored the bill. The Georgia state legislator is very much experienced with this issue as he donated one of his own kidneys to his son, Will, in 2020.
State Sen. Albers shared his story with the National Kidney Registry in March, stating that after his son Will was coughing up blood and eventually hospitalized. What unfolded was a miracle.
"We started looking into everything about transplantation," said Albers. "If you are not somehow connected to the transplant world, you just don’t know what’s involved. On July 1, 2021, I got the greatest call of my life. The doctor said, John, you’re not just a match, you’re a darn near perfect match—one of the best I’ve ever seen."
Furthermore, Albers stated that improving the donation process would be his life's work due to his experience with the bureaucracy entailed in organ donations.
"This is my life’s calling now. Until the day I am taken home by the Lord, I will do everything I can to improve the donation process for other people," said Sen. Alberts. "I want to flip the list. I want so many people waiting in line to be a living donor that anyone who needs a transplant can get one. I believe we can do that, we just have to get people, and all the other wonderful groups that are working toward this goal, to come together."
Finally, in a separate press release following the passage of the Georgia Transporting Life-Saving Organs and Personnel Act, Albers said that the legislation will "save lives more efficiently" in the Peach State.
“Having donated an organ to my son, I know firsthand the life-changing impact of organ donation,” said Sen. Albers. “These transport vehicles are already equipped with lights and sirens like other emergency vehicles, so it only makes sense to streamline their regulations and training. This bill will ensure medical teams can save lives more efficiently across Georgia.”
SB 58 passed the Senate unanimously with a 53-0 vote and will need to pass in the House to move to Governor Brian Kemp's (R-GA) desk.
