One man’s determination results in new State Patrol program
As a criminal investigator of fatal collisions, Washington State Patrol Detective Steve Stockwell isn’t usually responsible for informing families that their loved ones have died in motor vehicle collisions. But last year, when a 20-year-old man was killed in rural Lewis County, Det. Stockwell decided on the spur of the moment to accompany another officer to help with this difficult task.
From left, the Tissue Services’s Candy Wells, Det. Stockwell,
Northwest Lions Eye Bank’s Kara Laney.
“After the boy’s father had composed himself somewhat,” says Det. Stockwell, “we asked if there was anything else we could do for him. He said, ‘You know, I think my son would have wanted to be a donor.’”
This chance occurrence started Det. Stockwell on a mission, not only to help one grieving father. He decided to try to create a State Patrol system to help offer the option of donation to families of those who die tragically in collisions.
Hospitals are required by federal law to inform donation agencies of deaths, so that families may be given the opportunity to donate. But there are no such rules governing deaths outside of hospitals—it was this procedural gap that Det. Stockwell aimed to fill.
He faced unusual difficulties last year in Lewis County when he tried to facilitate the donation. The father, who lived alone in a remote area, had no telephone. Standing in the man’s driveway where he could find only spotty cell phone service, Det. Stockwell placed several calls before he was able to help get the referral to the Tissue Services.
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A REGULAR HERO
Norma Obremski finally spoke to Det. Steve Stockwell months after he had rescued her from drowning. She had lost control of her pickup, and was trapped in its cab in a water-filled ditch. Obremski reports that Det. Stockwell “was very nonchalant in acknowledging that he had indeed saved my life.”
Stockwell’s dedication to others extends beyond spearheading a State Patrol program to refer people who die in traffic collisions to donation agencies. Last March, he came upon the site of Obremski’s collision on a local highway near his home in Shelton, Washington. Bystanders looked into the cab. Water had leaked in, partially submerging Obremski’s head.
Glad to help Stockwell climbed in, crouched next to her and cradled her head so she could breathe, also performing as much basic first-aid as he could. He remained in the cramped cab until help arrived some 20 minutes later.
Obremski and the trooper met in person again for the first time at a recent ceremony, during which Stockwell was presented with a special commendation.
“Norma needed help and I came along and I was more than glad to help,” Stockwell said at the event. Obremski replied, through tears, “I think of you as my guardian angel.” |
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Spearheading
That day, Det. Stockwell took the very first step toward developing a pilot project using the State Patrol’s POPS (Problem Oriented Public Safety) philosophy. His unbending desire to honor the father’s wishes resulted in the generous donation of two corneas and more than 30 gifts of bone and tendon as well. To date, 17 recipients have benefited from transplants for a wide variety of painful orthopedic injuries and degenerative conditions.
In the year following his experience in Lewis County, Det. Stockwell spearheaded his POPS project with the Tissue Services and Northwest Lions Eye Bank. The system enables State Patrol communications officers to pass on information to the donation referral line as soon as troopers notify them of a fatal collision.
“When people have the donor designation on their driver’s license, when we’re responsible for them if they die in a collision, we should be able to do something when it comes to donation,” explains Det. Stockwell. “I do think it can mean a lot to surviving family members to know that their loved one has made a difference.”
How POPS works
POPS is an international policing philosophy that is based on two very simple tenets: partnerships and problem solving. The State Patrol’s POPS philosophy is designed to take ideas from troopers in the field and turn them into initiatives for the State Patrol systemwide.
In this particular POPS Project, troopers on the scene of a fatality collision relay the same basic information they always do to the communications officer, including the number of deaths, gender, and approximate age of those involved if known. The information is then shared with the donor referral line, which also handles hospital deaths, and is passed to the Tissue Services.
At that point, donation coordinators contact the coroner or medical examiner in the local jurisdiction to find out whether the deceased is eligible to donate. If so, Tissue Services donation coordinators wait until after the family has been notified of the death and then place a call.
So far, this POPS project has resulted in six successful cornea donations, from donors in Kitsap, Mason, and Pierce counties, in the two State Patrol districts where the pilot program started last summer. As a result, residents of California, Utah, Kentucky, and Washington, ranging in age from 31 to 80, have received the gift of sight.
The program will go statewide in November, and Det. Stockwell hopes to establish a track record that will convince law enforcement agencies nationwide to create their own programs.
“I do think it can mean a lot to surviving family members to know that their loved one has made a difference.”
–Det. Steve Stockwell
Enlisting support
Det. Stockwell was at a loss when he was trying to help the father in Lewis County. “We’d never been taught anything about donation.”
In fact, the trooper knew so little about donation that he wasn’t sure what the young man would be eligible to donate; he soon found out that organ donation was not possible, but that tissue and cornea donation were.
After the Tissue Services cleared the donation with the county coroner, Det. Stockwell passed his cell phone to the father, who completed the consent process and the medical and social history screening with Tissue Services Lead Donation Specialist Shari Fowler.
“We definitely could not have honored this father’s wishes without Detective Det. Stockwell’s help,” says Fowler. “He really made this donation possible.”
Afterward, Det. Stockwell researched donation on the Internet. He quickly learned more about the Tissue Services and contacted Candy Wells, hospital services supervisor. Det. Stockwell also enlisted the aid of two deputy chiefs, Lowell Porter and Steve Jewell, his former classmates at the State Patrol Academy. Porter suggested Det. Stockwell present his plan through the POPS program.
A great opportunity
“POPS has given us a great opportunity to serve our community in a way that didn’t exist before,” says the Tissue Services’s Wells. “Families who wouldn’t have had the opportunity before will now be able to consider the option of donation. Raising awareness within the State Patrol and among coroners and medical examiners will provide comfort for donor families in the midst of devastating shock and sorrow and have a strong, positive impact for the many recipients of donated tissue and corneas in our region.”
In order to get the message out, Det. Stockwell and Wells have created a 15-minute-long training module, which highlights the many benefits of donation, along with the basics of the POPS project. It includes a video showing a grateful recipient meeting the family of the donor whose gift prevented the loss of a leg to bone cancer. Supervisors and sergeants will get a copy of the training materials, to be presented in small sessions with troopers and communications officers.
“I’ve also suggested to the State Patrol academy that donation should be a training issue for cadets and communications officers. It needs to be in the curriculum of the academy itself,” says Det. Stockwell.
He also is looking to the future. “Not only should this be in the Washington State Patrol, it should be in every 911 dispatch center nationwide. I want it to be; I’m going to keep at it.”
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