After exhausting life-saving measures, doctors may approach patients' families for organ donation.
A single human body can become the source of life for a number of others. A shortage of healthy donor organs exists at all times in the United States, particularly for minorities and young children who need smaller organs than adults. In many religions around the world, organ donation represents the ultimate form of love and sacrifice.
Figures for 2006, quoted by the California Transport Donor Network, show that a staggering 6,000 people awaiting transplants die before receiving the needed organ, while about 10,000 eligible individuals do not donate their organs upon death. Many myths surround organ donation, but in reality, organ donation carries no health or financial risks to donors. You can even register to be a living donor where one of your kidneys can provide relief to another.
Age Requirements
Age is not a factor in organ donation. Anyone from a newborn baby to an elderly person may donate organs; however, those under 18 need parental permission to participate. Ultimately, the quality of an individual's organs is more important than the person's age when determining organ donation suitability.
Brain Death
Prior to removing any organs from a body, doctors must determine that a patient is brain dead after exhausting all life-saving measures. The medical definition of brain death encompasses patient unresponsiveness, absence of reaction to stimuli applied to the extremities, lack of basic brain stem function and absence of breathing. Brain death means the person has had an irreversible and total loss of brain function.
Doctors perform a battery of tests, such as evaluating eye movement and pupil response to light, to assess brain function. If physicians are still unsure of brain death after these tests, they may order confirmatory tests which include cerebral angiography to map the presence of blood flow in the brain and electroencephalography to measure any brain electrical activity. Before declaring brain death, doctors contact the organ procurement team and maintain organ function in instances of possible organ donors.
Health Requirements
Not many conditions automatically preclude you from becoming a donor. At time of death, medical personnel will determine which of your organs and tissues are suitable for transplantation. Cancer patients can contribute their organs, provided the cancer has not spread. Extensive infections will prevent organ donation. Finally, those infected with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, cannot donate their organs for transplantation.
Make Wishes Known
If you would like to become an organ donor, you should alert your family of your intentions. In 45 states, a first person consent law exists that legally establishes your right to donate your organs upon death, overriding any objection from your family or next of kin. Many states have donor registries where you register to become a donor, living or otherwise. Since timing is of the utmost importance during organ procurement and transplantation, donor registries allow for greater efficiency in locating and matching donors to recipients within a short amount of time.
Even after registering with your state's donor registry, you should compose a living will in which you clearly state your intention of donating your organs should resuscitation efforts fail. When doctors declare you brain dead, hospital personnel will contact your next of kin to sign consent forms to donate your organs. To expedite the process of organ procurement upon death, you should request, sign and carry a Uniform Donor Card to indicate your status, or contact a local Department of Motor Vehicles office to add your organ donor designation to your state driver's license.
Living Donor Requirements
People can be organ donors while still alive in a process called living donation. You can have a healthy, fulfilling life with a single kidney. Whole kidneys can be transplanted into those individuals who experience End Stage Renal Disease, meaning they have lost 90 to 95 percent of kidney function. If you choose to offer a kidney, you need to contact the Living Donor Kidney Program. Based on answers you provide on a questionnaire, a nurse determines whether to test your suitability. After blood typing and matching, you will be evaluated entirely, complete with a comprehensive physical, blood pressure check, laboratory tests to assess healthy organ functions and a psychological evaluation. Those individuals whose medical histories include high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, hepatitis and HIV infection normally cannot become living organ donors.
