Tissue Recovery Technician

Put your skills to work in a field that profoundly impacts many lives:  Organ and Tissue Donation. 

At Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network, we’re dedicated to coordinating organ and tissue donation in the northern three-quarters of Illinois and NW Indiana. Our goal is to provide the highest  quality service to families and hospitals as we strive to fulfill our mission of saving and enhancing the lives of as many people as possible through organ and tissue donation.

Tissue Recovery Technician uses surgical instruments to recover tissues for transplant from a deceased donor body during a tissue recovery case; precepts new employees and displays respect for the donor during each case.

Experience in an anatomy or cadaver lab is very applicable, as is experience as an EMT, Paramedic, Surgical Tech or Patient Care Tech.

Compensation range is $27.76 - $29.28 / hour

Our Benefits

In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a comprehensive benefits package:

• Medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance options for full-time employees
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) plan
• 403(b) retirement plan with company match
• Tuition Reimbursement up to the IRS-allowed maximum
• Personalized learning and educational development opportunities
• Monthly cell phone and internet stipends
• Paid Parental Leave
• Annual Employer-funded Lifestyle Spending Accounts to support wellness needs
• Support and counseling for personal, work financial or family needs through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and our partnership with Critical Incident Stress Consultants (CISC)

Essential Functions

The following essential functions are the basic job duties that an employee must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation.

• Advance Gift of Hope’s mission, vision and core values:  providing compassionate service, contributing to outstanding teams and engaging as one of our passionate people committed to a positive culture that respects the dignity and worth of each individual. Adhere to all policies and procedures in carrying out the responsibilities of this position.
• Use surgical instruments, such as scalpels and saws, to recover authorized donor tissue

• Participate in all aspects of tissue recovery such as:
  • Load/unload equipment
  • Clean and decontaminate instruments
  • Transport/transfer donor as necessary to and from morgue, patient room, or other recovery area
  • Set up tissue recovery supplies and equipment in an aseptic fashion
  • Prep and drape donor
  • Culture, package, and ship tissue as needed
  • Provide post-mortem care to donor, e.g. reconstruction, re-identifying, placing in a body bag
  • Close post-operative and other incisions, such as autopsy incisions, as needed
  • Verify donor identification
  • Verify authorization and understanding tissue to be collected
  • Assist with physical assessment of donor for high risk behaviors
  • Aseptic recovery of authorized tissue
  • Verify authorization of tissue recovered
  • Collect donor blood samples and perform testing as trained
  • Package tissue
  • Clean the recovery suite and other pertinent recovery areas
• Act as a preceptor to new employees
• Attend organizational and/or department events such as staff meetings and/or training outside of regularly scheduled hours
• Other duties as assigned

Education and Training Required

The following identifies the minimum education and training required to perform the essential functions of the job.

• EMT-P (paramedic), EMT-B, CST or ORT, or high school diploma/GED with 6 months tissue banking experience or 18 months of related experience

• Or Bachelor’s Degree in Biology or related field with anatomy lab experience
• Other candidates may be considered on an individual basis at the discretion of management dependent on aligned job experience

Experience and Skills Required

The following indicates the minimum skills and experience required to perform the essential functions of the job.

• Experience maintaining proper aseptic technique
• Experience using surgical instruments such as scalpels and suture needles
• Ability to recover all donor tissues proficiently once trained
• History of high-quality tissue procurement (low error rate) and low level of tissue contamination preferred
• Ability to transition to role of Tissue Recovery Coordinator within 1 year after training complete in the Technician role
• Basic computer skills

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

• Ability to drive personal car to hospitals and other locations to perform job functions
• Ability to work outside normal business hours including nights, weekends, and holidays
• Ability to walk, stand, bend, stoop, and kneel to perform job functions

• Ability to work 12- to 24-hour shifts, as dictated by organizational needs

• Ability to use personal cell phone for business purposes
• Ability to hear and speak to convey information to co-workers
• Ability to stand for up to 6 consecutive hours to complete a case
• Ability to see to conduct donor assessment
• Fine motor skills to package and label recovered tissue
• Ability to move up to 50-75 lbs.
• Ability to move and turn donors of a maximum of 400 lbs. with assistance, and move them from cart to cart, or cart to table
• Use of surgical equipment such as needles and scalpels without causing injury to self or others

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that will be encountered by an employee while performing the essential functions of the job.

• Work a rotating shift schedule to respond to tissue referrals throughout Gift of Hope’s service area

• Work 2-3 weekends per month while on the call schedule
• Work in Gift of Hope and hospital operating rooms, and coroner and medical examiner offices in designated service area
• Possible exposure to communicable diseases, hazardous materials, pharmacological agents, with little likelihood of harm if established health precautions are followed
• Travel by personal car within Gift of Hope’s service area
• Respond timely to Gift of Hope’s notifications via smartphone
• Overnight travel 1 – 2 times a year for up to 4 nights for training, education and/or conferences
• Attend organizational and/or departmental staff meetings, training, etc., outside scheduled work hours
• Carry a personal cell phone to be accessible outside regular business hours
• Ability to arrive at tissue recovery site within 1 hour after being dispatched, if not already on-site at a Gift of Hope office
• 12-hour shifts (12 noon - 12 midnight) that require some flexibility at times due to case length
• Shift differential provided
• Total of 7 shifts/2-week rotation, with 2 weekends per month required

Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified candidates and does not discriminate with regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, military or veteran status, family medical history or genetic information or any other classification protected by applicable law. All employment decisions are made based on an individual’s job-related qualifications and abilities.