CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Two kidneys, two traffic accidents and two Iowa State Patrol troopers added up to Iowa's first organ rescue.
Mike Kaiser, a nurse with the Iowa Donor Network, was transporting two kidneys Wednesday morning from one Iowa hospital to another when he was in a single-vehicle accident.
The crash, due to weather conditions, happened at Highway 63 and Interstate 80 near Malcom, about halfway between Des Moines and Iowa City, according to the State Patrol.
TrooperChad Hollingsworth picked up Kaiser, and the kidneys, to take them to the hospital where two patients were awaiting kidney transplants.
The kidneys were packaged in a small cooler-sized machine called a "LifePort" and were well-protected, Paul Sodders, public affairs manager for the Iowa Donor Network said.
With Kaiser and the kidneys, Hollingsworth drove east toward Iowa City when he saw another vehicle that rolled into the ditch at the 201 mile marker in Poweshiek County.
Hollingsworth called on another trooper, Jon Degen, to complete the trip to the hospital, while he stayed to help the people in the rolled-over vehicle.
The kidneys made it to the hospital, where they were transplanted.
Kaiser sought medical treatment and was stiff and sore, but doing well today, Sodders said.
In his 10 years with the Iowa Donor Network, Sodders said it was the first accident of which he was aware.
Kidneys can last up to 48 hours outside the body, "but the sooner they are transplanted, the better they function," he said. "As time ticks away there's a chance they would not function as well."
The non-profit network is the designated recovery agency for providing donated organs and tissue to patients on waiting lists in Iowa.
Sodders said he was prohibited from naming the hospitals due to confidentiality rules.
The only transplant hospitals in Iowa are in Des Moines and Iowa City.
Kidneys and other organs can be flown, but weather conditions made that prohibitive Wednesday, he said.
Also, because kidneys have a longer "shelf life" they are typically transported by car unless it's a long distance.
Sodders commended the troopers for helping Kaiser and for saving the lives of the two people who received the kidneys, which came from a deceased donor.
Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Eugene Meyer said the troopers' actions made the difference between life and death.
"They rescued a nurse and saved the lives of two organ transplant recipients," he said in a statement. "I'm proud that these state troopers exercised excellent judgment, and made timely decisions that ensured these organs arrived at the hospital in superb condition."