Community Tissue Services donated skin grafts to aid Nairobi fire victims.

Community Tissue Services (CTS) shipped close to 200 square feet of skin grafts today to aid burn victims of the recent fires in Nairobi, Kenya. The tissue grafts were transported from CTS headquarters in Dayton, OH via Lufthansa Airlines, but the grafts collectively came from all CTS locations throughout the United States.

According to David Smith, CEO/Medical Director of Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services, "the American Burn Association received a request for assistance from the James R. Jordan Foundation, State Department and White House staff. They then contacted tissue banks across the country, including Community Tissue Services, and requested available skin grafts for shipments to Kenya to aid burn victims of the recent Nairobi fires. CTS quickly decided to donate the skin grafts to aid the victims of the fires.

Severe burns to the skin expose someone to infections and fluid loss that can turn fatal. Skin grafts are used as a temporary covering to reduce pain, lower the chance of infection and prevent dehydration. A severe burn patient may use more than 10 square feet of donated skin. Skin grafts can mean the difference between life and death for severe burn victims.

Donated tissue such as skin, bone and heart valves can dramatically improve the quality of life for recipients, and even save lives. CTS would like to remind Ohioans to be an organ, eye and tissue donor and join the Ohio Donor Registry. For information on the Ohio Donor Registry, visit www.DonateLifeOhio.org. You may also stop by Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services at 349 South Main Street in Downtown Dayton, and pick up an Ohio Donor Registry enrollment form.

CTS, an accredited member of the American Association of Tissue Banks, is one of the five largest tissue banks in the United States. In 2008, the not-for-profit tissue bank distributed more than 116,000 tissue grafts to over 2000 hospitals, physicians and surgeons. CTS is the largest nonprofit provider of skin grafts to surgeons for severe burn patients.

Community Tissue Services serves the public through recovery, processing and distribution of human tissue donations used for transplantation. Community Tissue Services is composed of eight regional offices and two satellite offices: Dayton, Ohio (Corporate Office); Fort Worth, Texas; Fresno, California; Indianapolis, Indiana; Memphis, Tennessee; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; and Toledo, Ohio. Satellite locations: Boise, Idaho, and Medford, Oregon. For more information about Community Tissue Services, visit www.communitytissue.org.