By Jessica Legge
FAIRMONT — Through a grant, West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles employees will go through an electronic learning experience related to organ donation registration.
As the primary grantee for the project, the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health is leading the overall effort, and Howard Degenholtz is the principal investigator. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Transplantation.
Degenholtz said the University of Pittsburgh is working in collaboration with the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE), the DMV and Educational Ideas. Educational Ideas will develop the educational Web-based learning system. CORE, a federally designated organ procurement organization, will provide the content.
“We’re working together to help support the customer service representatives in the DMV field offices to have a comfort level in asking the question of customers if they would like to designate themselves as an organ and tissue donor,” Holly Bulvony, director of corporate communications and public education for CORE, said.
She said the three-year grant project will create an online theory-based program that is highly interactive. The 10-minute educational module will take DMV employees through a number of steps, with a brief test at the end.
“It’s very unusual,” Bulvony said of the system. “It’s very unique. As far as we know, it’s the first one in the nation.”
While the electronic learning tool functions like a Web site, it is offered on a secure server that only DMV employees can access, Degenholtz said.
It covers the role of the workers in giving customers at the driver’s license field offices the opportunity to sign up for the organ donation registry.
“It uses all of the current best technology ... to produce a package that is informative and entertaining and covers the components of their training in a format that is designed to be engaging for people,” he said.
In this online training, the employee actively uses the computer mouse to click on different parts of the screen, view videos, see animation, and read and listen to verbal content, Degenholtz said.
Bulvony said the customer service representatives are not being asked to promote anything — they’re simply giving the customer the chance to become a designated donor on their driver’s license.
“It will certainly help the CSRs do their job more effectively and efficiently,” she said.
But if persons want to learn more about organ donation, the DMV workers can give them a Donate Life West Virginia brochure with general information, Degenholtz said.
On Dec. 3, a meeting was held in Charleston to kick off the project. While the program is just starting in West Virginia, the participating entities hope to eventually take it nationwide, Bulvony said.
Joseph Cicchirillo, commissioner for the West Virginia DMV, said this project is providing an “awareness to the gift of life.”
“Individuals can donate their body organs ... actually to help save the life of somebody who is in need of it,” he said. “There is a possibility that your passing can help save somebody else’s life.”
On a driver’s license, a symbol signifies that a person has chosen to be an organ donor and is on the registry. Cicchirillo said the DMV wants to be able to properly ask persons if they would like this designation on their license, and the grant will help train the employees for this.
Bulvony encouraged all West Virginians to visit donatelife.wv.gov and register to be organ donors.
“The need is very great,” she said.
E-mail Jessica Legge at jlegge@timeswv.com.
