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Organ Donation Information

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Are you an organ donor? Not if you haven't told your family.

So, you want to become an organ donor? On this page is information as well as links to more information about organ donation.
 
All information on these pages were found at the websites listed on the right.

Questions:

 

Q. Will the identity of the recipients be revealed to the donor family?  

A. The identity of both the donor and the recipient is confidential. Organ Procurement Organization (O.P.O.) will provide the donor's family with basic information about the recipients, such as age, sex, profession and general location. Some donor families and recipients choose to communicate through anonymous letter writing.  

 

Q. Will organ/tissue donation interfere with funeral arrangements or change the donor's appearance?  

A. Removal of organs will not interfere with customary funeral arrangements. The operation is performed as soon as possible under standard sterile conditions in a hospital operating room by a surgeon and operating team. There is no alteration in the donor's appearance following organ or tissue donation.  

 

Q. How do I express my wishes to become an organ and tissue donor?

A. Indicate your intent to be an organ and tissue donor on your drivers license.  Carry an organ donor card. Most important, DISCUSS YOUR DECISION WITH FAMILY MEMBERS AND LOVED ONES.  

 

Q. If I sign a donor card or indicate my donation preferences on my drivers license, will my wishes be carried out?

A. Even if you sign a donor card it is ESSENTIAL THAT YOUR FAMILY KNOWS your wishes. Your family may be asked to sign a consent form in order for your donation to BE EFFECTIVE.  

***There is a new law in florida,the Nick Olerich law, that gives the OPO the power to recover organs with a signed donor card with families who are agains it***

 

Q. What can be donated?

A. Organs: heart, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, liver, and intestines. Also in some cases spleens and stomachs.. Tissue: cornea, skin, bone marrow, heart valves, and connective tissue.

 

Q. If I sign a donor card, will it affect the quality of medical care I receive at the hospital?

A. No! Every effort is made to save your life before donation is considered.  

 

Q. Will donation disfigure my body? Can there be an open casket funeral?

A. Donation does not disfigure the body and does not interfere with having a funeral, including open casket services.

 

Q. Who can become a donor?  

A. All individuals can indicate their intent to donate (persons under 18 years of age must have parent's or guardian's consent). Medical suitability for donation is determined at the time of death.   

 

Q. Are there age limits for donors?  

A. There are no age limitations on who can donate. The deciding factor on whether a person can donate is the persons physical condition, not the persons age. Newborns as well as senior citizens have been organ donors. Persons under 18 years of age must have parent's or guardian's consent.

Q. Are there any costs to my family for donation?

A. The donors family does NOT pay for the cost of the organ donation. All costs related to donation of organs and tissues are paid by the recipient, usually through insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.

Q. Can I sell my organs?

A. No! The National Organ Transplant Act (Public Law 98-507) makes it ILLEGAL to sell human organs and tissues. Violators are subject to fines and imprisonment. Among the reasons for this rule is the concern of Congress that buying and selling of organs might lead to inequitable access to donor organs with the wealthy having an unfair advantage.

Q. How are organs distributed?

A. Patients are matched to organs based on a number of factors including blood and tissue typing, medical urgency, time on the waiting list, and geographical location.

Q. Who will receive my organs and tissues?

A. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) maintains a national waiting list for vital organs. When an organ becomes available the list is reviewed to determine who will receive the organ. Criteria include distance from the donor, blood and tissue type, current physical condition and length of time on the waiting list. Since time is very important, local recipients are considered first, then regional and then national recipients. Kidneys are the most needed organs on the waiting list. Tissue banks do not have a national waiting list and are allocated through local tissue banks. 

 

Q. If I indicate on my driver license I want to be a donor, is that enough?

A. Most states encourage you to sign your drivers license indicating your wishes. We encourage you to register and carry a donor card in addition to your license. Sometimes the license is separated from a person in an accident. One of the most important elements of becoming an organ donor is that you discuss your wishes with your next of kin and with your family.  

 

Q. What is required consent or required request?

A. In 1986 legislation was passed which required all hospitals to develop protocol to ask the next of kin for permission to procure the organs of the patient at the time of impending death. This is why it is so important to discuss donation with your family when you register  and sign a donor card so they will know your wishes.  

 

Q. What is brain death?

A. Death occurs in two ways; cessation of cardiopulmonary function and cessation of brain function. Brain death occurs when a person has an irreversible, catastrophic brain injury which cause all brain activity to stop permanently.

 

Q. Can living people donate organs?

A. Under certain circumstances, a family member can give a kidney to another member of the immediate family (including mother, father, sister, brother). A living person can also donate bone marrow and certain parts of the pancreas.It is now possible to donate lobes of the liver and sections of intestine.  

 

Q. Will the body try to reject the new organ?

A. Yes. The recipient's body will identify the transplanted organ as a foreign object and will attempt to destroy it. Medication is required to control this reaction.

 

Q. What happens if the organ is rejected?

A. Specialized medications are administered and can often correct the rejection. If the rejection cannot be corrected, lifesaving measures must be taken. Attempts may be made to locate another organ for retransplantation. Due to the shortage of donated organs, many recipients die before another organ becomes available. Fortunately, kidney/pancreas transplant patients can return to dialysis or insulin therapy while awaiting a retransplant. 

 

Q. Will organ/tissue donation interfere with funeral arrangements or change the donor's appearance?

A. Removal of organs will not interfere with customary funeral arrangements. The operation is performed as soon as possible under standard sterile conditions in a hospital operating room by a surgeon and operating team. There is no alteration in the donor's appearance following organ or tissue donation.  

 

Q. How do organ/tissue recovery programs learn of potential donors?

A. When medical personnel in a hospital have identified a potential donor, they use a 24 hour number to contact the O.P.O. A procurement transplant coordinator then assists the referring hospital and the donor family with the medical, legal, and ethical aspects of donation.

 

Q. Can organs/tissues be transplanted between sexes and races?

A. In most cases, yes. Organ size is critical to match donor and recipient hearts, livers and lungs. Genetic makeup between kidney donors and recipients is more critical; due to genetic makeup, African Americans will "match" better with a kidney donated from an African American than any other race as will Asians to Asians, etc.  

 

Q. How long must a patient wait for a transplant?

A. The time a patient spends on the waiting list for an organ can vary from a few days to several years. The length of their wait is affected by several factors, such as the urgency of their medical condition and the availability of donated organs. Tissue banks have a very limited supply of donated skin, bone, heart valves, tendons and corneas. All patients awaiting an organ or tissue transplant depend upon the generosity of donors and their families to give the "gift of life".  

Organ Donor Card

Some information about donation:
 
 
 
Please send me links to sites with information on donation! I will review tham and list appropriate ones here!

Myths:
 
Myth: People can rise from brain death. The myth about rising from brain death is quite popular. However, it actually stems from a misunderstanding of brain death.

Fact: It is impossible to recover from brain death. Death can occur in two ways: 1) when the heart and lungs stop functioning, and 2) when the brain stops functioning. Brain death occurs when a person has an irreversible, catastrophic brain injury which causes all brain activity to stop permanently. In such cases, heart and lung function can be maintained with the aid of artificial life support. Brain death is an accepted medical, ethical, and legal principle. In most cases, organs can only be used where brain death occurs.

Myth: There is racial discrimination in organ distribution The urban legend is that organ distribution discriminates by race and, therefore, donation should be refused by minorities donor families since the organs may not be transplanted into minority patients.

Fact: The organ distribution system does not discriminate by race. As an example, although they comprise 12% of the population and 12% of kidney donors in 1996, African Americans received 21% of the kidneys donated. Minorities suffer end- stage renal disease (ESRD), a very serious and life-threatening kidney disease, much more frequently than do Whites. The preferred treatment for ESRD is kidney transplantation. It is very important to assure a close match between donor and recipient blood types and genetic make-up. Members of different races and ethnic groups are usually more genetically similar to members of their own group than they are to members of other racial and ethnic groups. It is important therefore, to increase the minority donor pool so that good matches can be made as frequently as possible for minority patients.

Myth: The rich and famous get preferential treatment on the U.S. waiting list. This urban myth has been perpetuated mainly by the media.

Fact: Rich and famous patients do not receive preferential treatment on the national organ waiting list. First, patients are matched to donor organs based on a number of factors including: blood and tissue typing, medical urgency, time on the waiting list, and geographical location. In addition, patients are not listed on the waiting list by name. The organ distribution system makes it highly unlikely that individuals will receive organs solely because they are rich and famous. Second, the National Organ Transplant Act (Public Law 98-507) was established to prevent this from occurring. The law states that organ allocation should be based on medical criteria and that the buying and selling of organs is illegal.

Myth: Organ recipients acquire their donor's characteristics. This urban myth stems from several reports from transplant recipients themselves as well as the media.

Fact: It has never been scientifically proven that transplant recipients acquire their donor's characteristics. Although some transplant recipients believe they acquired their donor's characteristics, this phenomenon has never been proven. Transplanted organs do not have a "memory" so there may be other explanations for why recipients gain interest in activities in which they previously had no interest. Some have suggested the power of suggestion (overhearing something while in the hospital about an activity in which the donor had been involved but the recipient had not) or that the experience of the illness and transplant had an effect on the individual causing the recipient to develop a liking for certain activities not previously enjoyed 

Myth: There are age limits on donation

Fact: There is no age limit on who can donate. Whether individuals can donate organs and tissue depends on their physical condition, not their age. Newborns as well as senior citizens have been organ donors. However, individuals under the age of 18 who choose to donate must obtain the consent of an adult who is legally responsible for them, such as a parent or guardian. 

Myth: Donation will mutilate my body.

Fact: Donated organs are removed surgically, in a routine operation similar to gallbladder or appendix removal. Donation doesn't disfigure the body or change the way it looks in a casket.   

Myth: My family will be charged for donating my organs.

Fact: Donation costs nothing to the donor's family or estate.   

Myth: If I am in an accident and the hospital knows that I want to be a donor, the doctors will not try to save my life.

Fact: Organ and tissue recovery takes place only after all efforts to save your life have been exhausted and death has been legally declared. The medical team treating you is completely separate from the transplant team. The organ procurement organization (OPO) is not notified until all lifesaving efforts have failed and death has been determined. The OPO does not notify the transplant team until your family has consented to donation. 

Myth: My religion does not support donation.

Fact: All mainstream organized religions approve of organ and tissue donation and consider it an act of charity.   

Myth: Only heart, liver and kidneys can be transplanted.

Fact: Needed organs include the heart, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, liver and intestines. Tissue that can be donated include the eyes, skin, bone, heart valves and tendons.

If you have more information you would like seen her, please email me at othello@allothello.com ! Thanks.....