Overview Put your skills to work in a field that profoundly impacts many lives: Organ and Tissue Donation.
At Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network, we're dedicated to coordinating organ and tissue donation in the northern three-quarters of Illinois and NW Indiana. Our goal is to provide the highest quality service to families and hospitals as we strive to fulfill our mission of saving and enhancing the lives of as many people as possible through organ and tissue donation.
Tissue Recovery Technician uses surgical instruments to recover tissues for transplant from a deceased donor body during a tissue recovery case; precepts new employees and displays respect for the donor during each case.
Experience in an anatomy or cadaver lab is very applicable, as is experience as an EMT, Paramedic, Surgical Tech or Patient Care Tech.
This is a 12-hour noon to midnight shift, with alternating weekends.
Compensation for this position is $26.92 - $27.40 / hour plus night shift differential when applicable per company policy Responsibilities
The following essential functions are the basic job duties that an employee must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation.
SHIFT: (12 PM - 12 AM )
Advance Gift of Hope's mission, vision and core values: providing compassionate service, contributing outstanding teams and engaging as one of our passionate people committed to a positive culture that embraces diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Adhere to all policies and procedures in carrying out the responsibilities of this position.
Participate in all aspects of tissue recovery such as:
Use surgical instruments, such as scalpels and saws, to recover authorized donor tissue
Loading/unloading equipment
Cleaning and decontaminating instruments
Transporting/transferring donor as necessary to and from morgue, patient room or other recovery area
Setting up tissue recovery supplies and equipment in an aseptic fashion
Donor prepping and draping
Tissue culturing, packaging and shipping as needed
Providing post-mortem care to donor, e.g. reconstruction, re-identifying, placing in a body bag
Closing post-operative and other incisions, such as autopsy incisions, as needed
Verifying donor identification
Verifying authorization and understanding tissue to be collected
Assisting with physical assessment of donor for high risk behaviors
Aseptic recovery of authorized tissue
Verifying tissue recovered has authorization for recovery
Collecting donor blood samples and performing testing as trained
Packaging of tissue
Cleaning the recovery suite and other pertinent recovery areas
Act as a preceptor to new employees
Attend organizational and/or department events such as staff meetings and/or training outside of regularly scheduled hours
Read email, complete electronic assignments and read Gift of Hope internal portal daily when on shift
Other duties as assigned
For per-diems or other employees with their home as their base location:
Ability to arrive at the designated tissue recovery location or meeting point within 1 hour or less of dispatch
Qualifications
Education and Training Required
The following identifies the minimum education and training required to perform the essential functions of the job.
EMT-P (paramedic), EMT-B, CST or ORT, or high school diploma/GED with 6 months' tissue banking experience or 18 months of related experience
Or, Bachelor's Degree in Biology or related field, with anatomy lab experience
Other candidates may be considered on an individual basis at the discretion of management dependent on aligned job experience
Experience and Skills Required
The following indicates the minimum skills and experience required to perform the essential functions of the job.
Experience maintaining proper aseptic technique
Experience using surgical instruments such as scalpels and suture needles
Ability to recover all donor tissues proficiently once trained
History of high-quality tissue procurement (low error rate) and low level of tissue contamination preferred
Ability to transition to role of Tissue Recovery Coordinator within 1 year after training complete in the Technician role
Basic computer skills
Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.
Ability to work in Gift of Hope and hospital operating rooms, and coroner and medical examiner offices
Ability to drive personal car to hospitals and other locations to perform job functions
Ability to work outside normal business hours including nights, weekends and holidays
Ability to walk, stand, bend, stoop and kneel to perform job functions
Ability to work 12- to 24-hour shifts, as dictated by organizational needs
Ability to use personal cell phone for business purposes
Ability to hear and speak to convey information to co-workers
Ability to stand for up to 6 consecutive hours to complete a case
Ability to see to conduct donor assessment
Fine motor skills to package and label recovered tissue
Ability to arrive at tissue recovery site within 1 hour after being dispatched, if not already on-site at a Gift of Hope office
Ability to move up to 50-75 lbs.
Ability to move and turn donors of a maximum of 400 lbs. with assistance, and move them from cart to cart, or cart to table
Work Environment
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that will be encountered by an employee while performing the essential functions of the job.
Work a rotating shift schedule to respond to tissue referrals throughout Gift of Hope's service area
Work 2-3 weekends per month while on the call schedule
Work in Gift of Hope and hospital operating rooms, and coroner and medical examiner offices in designated service area
Possible exposure to communicable diseases, hazardous materials, pharmacological agents, with little likelihood of harm if established health precautions are followed
Use of surgical equipment such as needles and scalpels without causing injury to self or others
Travel by personal car within Gift of Hope's service area
Respond timely to Gift of Hope's notifications via smartphone
Overnight travel 1 - 2 times a year for up to 4 nights for training, education and/or conferences
Carry a personal cell phone to be accessible outside regular business hours
The policy of Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network is to promote equal employment opportunity through a positive and continuous program of specific practices designed to ensure the full realization of equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or status as a disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, other protected veteran, or Armed Forces service medal veteran designated under the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act, as amended (VEVRAA). This reaffirms our commitment to this policy.