2007 Senate Joint Resolution 56
ENROLLED JOINT RESOLUTION
Relating to: honoring members of the University of Michigan Health System Hospital survival flight team.
Whereas, on June 4, 2007, six members of a medical team from the University of Michigan (U-M) were returning from Milwaukee with organs for a transplant patient when they lost their lives in a plane crash off the Milwaukee lakefront into Lake Michigan; and
Whereas, the transplant team had departed Milwaukee in the afternoon with organs it had procured for a patient at the University of Michigan Health System Hospital; and
Whereas, aboard the aircraft were members of the U-M's survival flight team: David Ashburn, M.C., a fellow (physician in training) in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery; Richard Chenault II, a transplant donation specialist with the U-M Transplant Program; Dennis Hoyes, a Marlin air pilot; Richard Lapensee, a transplant donation specialist with the U-M Transplant Program; William Serra, a Marlin air pilot; and Martinus (Martin) Spoor, M.D., a cardiac surgeon who had been on the U-M faculty since 2003; and
Whereas, for nearly 25 years, the survival flight helicopters have safely transported critically ill and injured patients of all ages from hospitals and accident sites across the state to the University of Michigan Health System Hospital for specialized care, aided in rescue operations, and transported harvest teams for organ donations; and
Whereas, the U-M performs nearly 400 organ transplants per year in both adults and children, requiring the dedicated, professional involvement of approximately 125 surgeons, nurses, perfusionists, and transplant coordinators working for the U-M Transplant Center, making it the largest and most experienced transplant center in Michigan — and among the largest in the nation; and
Whereas, since 1964 more than 7,109 children and adults have benefited from the lifesaving efforts of the U-M Transplant Center, and today, the U-M Transplant Center performs kidney, liver, heart, lung and pancreas transplants; and
Whereas, transplant surgery requires the precise coordination of dozens of doctors, technicians, hospital administrators, families, and transport vehicles; and
Whereas, the loss of these individuals whose lives were devoted to helping others in need of specialized care will be sorely missed by their families, their colleagues, and those whose lives they touched; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the senate, the assembly concurring, That the members of the Wisconsin Senate extend their condolences to the families of Dr. David Ashburn, Richard Chenault II, Dennis Hoyes, Richard Lapensee, William Serra, and Dr. Martin Spoor.
