WSP Deputy Chief Glenn M. Cramer welcomes a cyclist to the state capitol.

When a team of 13 amateur bicyclists rode through Washington and across the country last summer to bring attention to the need for lifesaving donation, the Northwest Tissue Services and the Washington State Police (WSP) were there to help.

The Tissue Services and WSP joined together for the cause through their work on the innovative WSP Tissue Donor Program.

Five Points of Life is a biannual national event designed to increase public awareness of the five ways people can share life through donation: whole blood, apheresis (a blood cell separation procedure), organ and tissue, bone marrow and umbilical cord blood (see Cord Blood Program).

The eight-week ride covered 13 states before ending in Florida. The ride was conceived by LifeSouth Community Blood Centers, of Gainesville, Fla., which selected Seattle as this year’s launch city.

The Five Points of Life cyclists and members of the Washington State Police pause for a photo during ceremonies in Olympia.

Committed Community
Seattle was chosen as the Five Points of Life ride’s start site because the Northwest is widely recognized for its outstanding transfusion and transplantation programs.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of people across the country benefit from life-enhancing or lifesaving donations, which made coordinating the event a perfect opportunity for the local organizations involved.

“We know that community awareness about donation increases the potential for taking action,” said Steve McLean, a member of the local Five Points of Life committee and spokesman for Puget Sound Blood Center and its division, the Northwest Tissue Services.

“The Five Points of Life ride presents a rare opportunity for us to work jointly to encourage community involvement in becoming donors. We are pleased and proud to be part of this national effort.”

The local organizations involved in Five Points of Life were the Northwest Tissue Services, Puget Sound Blood Center, Northwest Lions Eye Bank, LifeCenter Northwest, the Living Legacy Foundation, and Cascade Regional Blood Services.

This committee created various community events to welcome the riders and introduce them to the region. Events included tissue and organ donor registry drives and a community marrow drive sponsored by Puget Sound Blood Center.

The riders embarked on their journey from Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center, where the opening ceremonies featured remarks by Children’s Medical Director Richard Molteni, M.D., and Jorge Reyes, M.D., Chief of Transplant Surgery at University of Washington Medical Center. Allison Trimble, a volunteer for the Tissue Services and a heart transplant patient who received blood and other services from Puget Sound Blood Center, also spoke. The Blood Center, Tissue Services, Eye Bank, and organ donation agency staff who played integral roles in organizing the event were also at the festivities.

From Seattle the cyclists pedaled to Tacoma’s Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital and on August 26, the WSP escorted them into Olympia for an awards ceremony at the state capitol. There, Washington State Assistant Secretary of Health Patty Hayes presented the riders with an award in the form of a proclamation devoting an official day of recognition to their outstanding efforts in raising community awareness of donation. In addition, for six hours that day, the Blood Center held a blood drive on the Capital Campus.

WSP’s Deputy Chief Glenn M. Cramer, Field operations Bureau, spoke at the ceremony and lauded the riders for their contributions to making the public aware of the value of donation. Numerous members of the WSP joined Dept. Chief Cramer at the event.

After the ceremony, the riders continued, visiting Oregon next on their trek to Florida to fulfill the mission of increasing national awareness of the need for people to share life with others through donation.