In article , Mike Coslo
writes:

Remember the Eye Bank Net?

What on earth is/was the "Eye bank net"?

The techniques of corneal transplants and such operations predate the internet.
In those pre-organ-donor-card days, usable eyes would come from all over the
USA, and matching them to waiting recipients in the limited time available was
a real challenge.

The Eye Bank Net served as a clearinghouse-on-the-air to coordinate donors and
recipients, transportation, etc. Some hospitals (usually eye hospitals) even
had ham stations while most used the services of local volunteer amateurs.

Now, obviously in the case of a life-and-death emergency when there is no other
option, amateur radio communications can step in, even to aid commercial
operations. But eye transplants aren't a life-and-death emergency.

FCC had no official position on the EBN at all - until somebody formally asked
if it was legal, and pointed out that in most cases the required communications
could theoretically all have been done by long distance telephone. Expensive
and cumbersome given the telephone technology of the time, but possible.

So FCC *had to* give a ruling (because they'd been formally asked), and IIRC
the EBN had to change the way it operated in order to meet the rules as
clarified by FCC.

Today of course the whole thing is done online, and transplants of many kinds
are almost routine. But things weren't always that way, and amateur radio was
there when needed.

73 de Jim, N2EY