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Eyebank Net: History Section

Ted Hunter W0NTI 

Ted Hunter W0NTI
Dr Alson Braley W0GET

Dr Alson Braley W0GET


Dr. Alson E. Braley W0GET along with Ted Hunter W0NTI established the Eye Bank network in 1962

 

In the early days of eye banking, there were significant challenges in ensuring a consistent and reliable supply of corneal tissue for transplant surgeries. By 1962, although several eye banks had been established and the Eye Bank Association of America had just been founded, it was particularly difficult to find tissue for emergency surgeries.


During an interview with James Beilman in 1977, Dr. Alson E. Braley, founder of Iowa Lions Eye Bank, said that in those days, in many instances, perforated corneas could only be repaired with a transplant. 

“I’d had this man come in. He’d had a perforation of the cornea. I called every place trying to find an eye. They didn’t have one, so the poor man lost his eye,” Dr. Alson E. Braley

Braley approached Ted Hunter, a member of the Iowa City Lions Club and fervent eye bank supporter. Both Braley and Hunter were amateur ham radio operators, and the two decided that radio could be utilized to bridge the gap between eye banks, hospitals, and surgeons across wide distances. 

On December 20, 1962, Braley and Hunter established the Eye Bank Network to coordinate the exchange of donor eye tissue between 10 eye banks in the Midwest. At first, ham radio operators in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska would tune in to the frequency 3970 at 7 a.m. six days a week, to see where tissue was available and which locations had an immediate need. They then would figure out how to transport that tissue by road or air. 

The first cornea the Eye Bank Network placed was on Christmas Eve 1964 for a two-year-old girl in Oklahoma City who had fallen and injured her eye. Ham Radio Operator Travis Harris of Oklahoma City, who himself was blind, helped arrange for the transfer of the cornea from a Chicago-area hospital, and the operation was a success. Twenty-six years later, Braley was able to meet that girl in person.

In its first year of operation, the Eye Bank Network helped place 75 corneas for emergency transplants. Within eight years, 4,000 corneas had been distributed because of the Eye Bank Network.

The Eye Bank Network went off the air in 1992, after modern computing methods made the network obsolete. By this time, 11,000 corneas had been distributed due to the network.

Photos below are of some past Eyebank Network members - from the late SIXTIES and early SEVENTIES

Ed NV5K was on staff at the University of Iowa institute for vision research.  Worked with Dr Braley and was a member of the eyebank net.   

This is Bill K2DI.  Former call K2INO/W2AIL. He first joined the net in late 1963 when he was a graduate student at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.  According to Bill, their eye bank was one of the most active in terms of making eye tissue available.  He later represented eye banks in Rochester and New York City, served as net control for
the "Early Section" 7am 75m net for a number of years, and was 

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Mildred K4JGU

Phil K4CRU

Larry W0MXT and XYL Lola

Norris W5LVC and XYL Vera

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Early Roster circa 1965

Eye Bank Net Roster from the mid 60s 




Not sure what paper this article came from.  Some good eyebank net history.

1962 article about Amateur Radio Eye Emergency Net - as it was originally called

Find out more

10 year anniversary Eyebank Article

This was sent to Wayne AD4NY by W5DEI (SK) in 2015. This was the net preamble used long ago!

 W0EYE is the official call sign of the Eye Bank Net, formally the Eye Emergency Net. The net was organized in 1962 at Iowa City by Dr. Al Braley, M.D., W0GET and Ted Hunter, W0NTI (both are Silent Keys) The first on the air meeting was on December 20th 1962. The purpose of the net is for locating and arranging for the distribution of eye tissue to be used in sight saving emergency corneal transplant operations. We handled this traffic for over thirty years, serving more than fifty hospitals across the country, with close to one hundred-fifty members. During that time we transferred 11,066 eyes. We have generated much good publicity for Ham Radio and have received many honors, including a Presidential Citation. We continue to meet out of fellowship and to help keep the tradition of Amateur Radio in public service alive. The International Eye Bank Association has asked us to continue our net, in case their newer methods of communications should ever fail. All licensed Hams are welcome to check in and join us daily EXCEPT SUNDAY at 7.293 Mhz at 7:50 CST. 

Check out this video of some old Eyebank Network traffic 

 Alson Braley discusses Eye Net 

Youtube video by Richard K0PIR.  He tuned into the Eyebank net while heading to Orlando Hamcation.  At 1.26 on the video he picked up the Wayne AD4NY closing out the net. 

Video of some past Eyebank Nets

Interesting Video

N1SCA tuned into the eyebank net and posted a great video.  

Another interesting net

This net was several years ago on 7.235 Mhz

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