Bill would let organ‑procurement organizations transport donors using medical equipment to preserve organs

Senate Bill 349 would allow procurement organizations such as Nevada Donor Network to transport or arrange transportation of a registered or authorized donor’s body or body part when medical equipment is required to preserve or increase viability for donation. The bill also requires coordination with coroners when a coroner requests notice before release.

Senator Julie Pizzina introduced the measure and cited a Kaiser Health Foundation analysis that between February 2014 and February 2019 some organs could not be transplanted and many more were "near misses" due to transportation delays; she told the committee Nevada has more than 113,000 people on transplant waiting lists. Dan Musgrove, representing Nevada Donor Network, described procurement operations and the rationale for narrow statutory clarification: "This bill clarifies in statute that if under that very narrow circumstance, we have the ability to transport ourselves," he said, noting the agency’s interest in establishing donor care units where procurement could occur outside a hospital operating room.

Musgrove and funeral‑industry witnesses said the change is intended for rare situations when a hospital cannot provide the necessary transport or equipment and when a ventilator or other life‑support equipment is needed to preserve organs in cases of brain death. Musgrove said such transport would follow existing medical regulation and use ALS/BLS or comparable equipment; he noted the organization currently performs most procurement in hospitals and does not yet own bespoke transport equipment.

Funeral directors and mortuary representatives testified in support after working with Nevada Donor Network on the wording. Warren Hardy of La Paloma Funeral Services and Life Science Anatomical said the funeral industry had initial concerns about expanding transport authority, but that the bill’s narrow scope and prior collaboration addressed those concerns. Other supporters included Davis Funeral Home, the Vegas Chamber, Nevada Royal Hospital Partners and Torrey University Nevada.

Committee members asked technical questions about what equipment would be used and why procurement agencies would use ambulances rather than mortuary vans; Musgrove said mortuaries lack the necessary medical equipment for the rare situations the bill addresses and that procurement organizations may use regulated ambulance services or comparable equipment as needed.

No formal vote was recorded in the supplied transcript. Sponsors and supporters described the bill as narrowly tailored to increase the number of viable donations by removing a statutory ambiguity about transportation in exceptional circumstances.

Why it matters: The bill seeks to reduce organ loss due to transportation delays by clarifying that procurement organizations may arrange medically equipped transport in narrow situations to preserve organ viability, and by creating a statutory mechanism for coordination with coroners.

What's next: Sponsor and industry witnesses said they had worked together on the language and will proceed through the committee process; no recorded opposition or amendment was entered during the hearing in the supplied transcript.