Surgeons at Johns Hopkins hospital in Maryland performed six kidney transplants at the same time – a series of operations believed to be the first of their kind.

Six recipients received organs from six donors in operations performed simultaneously on Saturday. The transplants were possible when a so-called altruistic donor, who was willing to donate to anyone, was found to be a match for one of six transplant candidates. Five of the candidates had a willing donor whose kidney was incompatible with their particular friend or relative, but a match for another of the six.

The surgeries took 10 hours, six operating rooms, and nine surgical teams. Also, dozens of medical professionals were needed to make the complex series of transplants possible.

"All 12 are doing great, the six kidneys are working well," said Dr. Robert Montgomery, director of Hopkins' transplant center and head of the transplant team, the Associated Press reports.

Last year, surgeons at the hospitals performed a quintuple transplant. Last week, surgeons at Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital performed simultaneous transplants of four kidneys, which makes the six-way transplant last Saturday a record.

More people should know about this kind of procedure, recipient Jeanne Heise, whose husband donated to another patient, said. “The waiting list for a kidney is very long and too many people die while waiting. With this group procedure, more and more people can beat kidney disease and live long productive lives.”

According to Amanda Claggett, representative for the United Network for Organ Sharing, more than 252,000 kidney transplants have been performed in the United States since UNOS started keeping data in 1988. More than 75,000 people are waiting for kidney transplants and 4,352 died while waiting for a kidney last year, she said.