Cultivating Your Funeral Home and Coroner Relationships

Developing relationships with funeral homes and coroners is a necessity for eye banks to be able to recover tissue. During this session, Gary Watts, retired coroner who has investigated more than 50,000 deaths over more than 40 years, discusses the protocol that he helped to develop to improve the relationship tissue procurement organizations had with coroners. Staci Terrin from Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank will also discuss the efforts her team makes to strengthen their relationships with funeral homes and coroners.

Attendees will learn the following:

• Tips to engage with funeral homes and coroners
• Suggestions on how to overcome common challenges
• The protocol that was developed to notify coroners as soon as a tissue procurement organization becomes involved in a case

Attend this session to learn more about working with your local funeral homes and coroners.

Staci Terrin

Technical Manager

Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank

Staci joined the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank in December 2014. Staci has held several positions at RMLEB and is currently the Technical Manager, which she has served in this position for the past four years. Staci has trained surgeons and eye bank technicians in processing tissue for DMEK and DSAEK. Staci has served on several EBAA committees, including Constitution and Bylaws and Continuing Education. She has co-authored several scientific publications on behalf of RMLEB relating to eye banking. What Staci enjoys most about her position is teaching and training staff and watching them grow as eye bank professionals.

Gary Watts

Coroner Liaison

Sharing Hopes Carolina

Gary Watts has spent 40+ years in law enforcement focused in medical legal death investigation. He is a past president and board member of South Carolina's Coroners Association, and also a past president and board chair of the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners, or IACME. He is currently the coroner liaison for Sharing Hopes Carolina, an Organ Procurement Organization (OPO).