Organ Donation Information

Information provided by Donate Life America

Organ Donation Information

Presentation by Gail Lehman

Source: http://donatelife.net/organ-donation/

Organ DonationOrgan donation is the process of giving an organ or a part of an organ for the purpose of transplantation into another person.

Source: http://donatelife.net/organ-donation/

How to become an organ donorIn order for a person to become an organ donor, blood and oxygen must flow through the organs until the time of recovery to ensure viability.

Source: http://donatelife.net/organ-donation/

Donor requirements

This requires that a person die under circumstances that have resulted in an irreparable neurological injury, usually from massive trauma to the brain such as aneurysm, stroke or automobile accident.

Source: http://donatelife.net/organ-donation/

Doctors’ donor responsibilityOnly after all efforts to save the patient’s life have been exhausted, tests are performed to confirm the absence of brain or brain stem activity, and brain death has been declared, is donation a possibility.

Source: http://donatelife.net/organ-donation/

Donor registry

The state donor registry is searched to determine if the patient has personally consented to donation.

❖ If the potential donor is not found on the registry, his or her legally authorized representative (usually a spouse, relative or close friend) is offered the opportunity to authorize the donation.

❖ Once the donation decision is established, the family is asked to provide a medical and social history

Source: http://donatelife.net/organ-donation/

Source: http://donatelife.net/organ-donation/

Organ transplantation to patientDonation professionals determine which organs can be transplanted and to which patients on the national transplant waiting list the organs are to be allocated.

Organ donation can occur with

❖ a deceased donor, who can give kidneys, pancreas, liver, lungs, heart, intestinal organs.

&❖ a living donor, who can give a

kidney, or a portion of the liver, lung, intestine, or pancreas.

Source: http://donatelife.net/organ-donation/

Source: http://donatelife.net/organ-donation/

Why donating organs is importantAlthough there have been advances in medical technology and donation, the demand for organ, eye and tissue donation still vastly exceeds the number of donors.

Patients awaiting organ transplants today

❖ The website for Donate Life America provides these key stats (as of May 2015) to illustrate the approx. number of patients awaiting organ transplants today.

StatisticsSource: http://donatelife.net/statistics/

Source: http://donatelife.net/statistics/

Currently, nearly 124,000 men, women and children are

awaiting organ transplants in the United States.

Source: http://donatelife.net/statistics/

Every 10 minutes another name is added to the national organ

transplant waiting list.

Source: http://donatelife.net/statistics/

Sadly, an average of 21 people die each day because the organs they need are not

donated in time.

Source: http://donatelife.net/statistics/

In 2014, more than 8,500 deceased donors made possible

approximately 24,000 organ transplants. In addition, there were nearly 6,000 transplants

from living donors.

Source: http://donatelife.net/statistics/

Nearly 48,000 sight-restoring corneal transplants were

performed in the U.S. in 2014.

Source: http://donatelife.net/statistics/

Each year, approximately 30,000 tissue donors save and heal

lives.

Source: http://donatelife.net/statistics/

More than 1 million tissue transplants are done each year

and the surgical need for tissue has been steadily rising.

Source: http://donatelife.net/statistics/

According to research, 98% of all adults have heard about organ

donation and 86% have heard of tissue donation.

Source: http://donatelife.net/statistics/

90% of Americans say they support donation, but only 30% know the essential steps to take

to be a donor.

This information was provided by:

Donate Life America

Donate Life America is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit alliance of national organizations and state teams across the United States committed to increasing organ, eye, and tissue donation.

If you liked this, please visit:

GailLehmanBrentwood.org

In the summer of 2010, Gail Lehman’s son was diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease. Years later, he received an organ donation that saved his life. Gail’s story highlights the importance of people donating their organs. She says, some children wait for years on a donor list and the truth is, there are just simply not enough donated organs to provide a life-giving chance for everyone. Today, she urges people to consider becoming life-saving, organ donors.