YOU HAVE THE POWER TO DONATE LIFE
FACTS ABOUT ORGAN, EYE AND TISSUE DONATION
- People of all ages and medical histories should consider themselves
potential donors. Your medical condition at the time of death
will determine what organs and tissue can be donated.
- Donated organs including the heart, pancreas, kidneys, liver,
lungs and intestines restore life.
- Tissue is needed to replace bone, tendons and ligaments lost
to trauma, cancer and other diseases in order to improve strength,
mobility, and independence. Corneas are needed to restore sight.
Skin grafts help burn patients heal and often mean the difference
between life and death. Heart valves repair cardiac defects and
damage.
- All major religions support organ, eye and tissue donation as
an unselfish act of charity.
- There is no cost to the donor’s family or estate for donation.
The donor family pays only for medical expenses before death and
for funeral expenses.
- It is illegal to buy or sell organs and tissue for transplantation
in the United States.
- It is possible to donate life to others as a living kidney or
partial liver, lung, intestine or pancreas donor. Visit www.donatelife.net
for more information.
HOW THE DONATION PROCESS WORKS
Your commitment to donation will not interfere with your medical
care. Organ, eye and tissue donation becomes an option only after
all life saving efforts have been made and death has been declared.
Consent for donation is confirmed, and your family is asked to
participate in the process by providing your medical history.
Surgical procedures are used to recover donated organs, eyes and
tissue. The body is always treated with great care and respect.
Donation should not delay or change funeral arrangements. An open
casket service is possible.
WHO RECEIVES DONATED ORGANS AND TISSUE?
Organs are distributed based upon medical information like blood
type, body size, and tissue type matching through a national computer
network operated by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
It is illegal to distribute organs based on non medical information
such as wealth, citizenship, or celebrity status.
Tissue is distributed based upon patient need, availability, and
medical criteria.
STATISTICS ON ORGAN, EYE AND TISSUE DONATION
- Last year more than 7,500 deceased donors made possible more
than 21,000 organ transplants. In addition, there were nearly
7,000 transplants from living donors.
- There are also 25,000 tissue donors and 40,000 cornea donors
annually, providing more than one million tissue and corneal transplants.
- The need for donated organs, eyes, and tissue continues to grow.
Nearly 100,000 men, women, and children currently await life saving
organ transplants. Sadly, an average of 18 people die each day
due to a lack of available organs.
- Every donor can save and enhance the lives of up to 50 people.
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