Informative Speech on Organ Donations Essay

The decision to determine who gets an organ is something that cannot be taken lightly. If proper protocol is not followed, issues such as biasness and judging people based on factors like socioeconomic status may be used to determine this dilemma. For this reason, organ transplantation is overseen by government regulators. The Division of Transplantation (DoT), which falls under the US Department of Health and Human Services, oversees this process. Organs are allocated according to strict rules that take into account physical matching, tissue and blood type matching, medical criteria, waiting time, severity of illness. The allocation system is blind to name, race, sex and wealth. The allocation rules have been developed over many years of deliberation by physicians and other transplant professionals, transplant candidates and recipients, donor families, and representatives of the federal government. (CITE ThIs) Removing these variables and following protocol causes the medical professional to make a decision on fairness rather than feelings, biasness, and possibly corruption such as bribery.

According to United Network for Organ Sharing (2010) organ donations and transplantation are the removal of organs and tissues from one person and placed into another person’s body. The need for organ transplantation usually occurs when the recipient organ has failed (UNOS, 2010). Organ donation can save the lives of many individuals who are on the waiting list for an organ donation. Becoming an organ donor can be a difficult decision. Many people have the false beliefs about being an organ donor. An example would be if organ donor is on their driver’s license and a person is in a life-threatening accident everything will not be done to save their life. There is an increase need for organ donors and unfortunately the need for organ

For over 13 year I have worked in healthcare and I have seen multiple patients die from organ failure as they waited on the transplant list. I’ve seen patients lose their quality of life as they sit in hospitals for weeks and months at a time as they waited for a kidney transplant. I also know people who have donated the organs of their loved ones and were blessed to know that their loss was the beginning of another person’s life.

Also, how long a patient has been waiting for an organ is a big factor when choosing who will get which organ

Maybe I won’t really be dead when they sign the death certificate: People who are organ donors are actually given more tests to determine that the patient is truly dead than they would give to those who are not organ donors.

In the organ market, several allocation mechanisms come to mind. There is always the possibility that a particular patient has a family member or friend that is in the organ transplantation profession,

Thesis statement: The need is constantly growing for organ donors and it is very simple to be an organ donor when you die.

Researchers state that the computerized matching system does not select recipients based on fame or wealth. Organs are matched by blood and tissue typing, organ size, medical urgency, waiting time, and geographic location.

Innovative advances in the practice of medicine have increased the life span of the average American. This along with the growing population in the United States and has created a shortfall in the number of organs available for transplant today. The current system of allocation used to obtain organs for transplant faces difficulty because of two primary reasons according to Moon (2002). The two perceptions that stop potential organs donors are that the allocation criteria is unfair and favors certain members of society and/or that organs may be allocated to someone who has destroyed their organs by misuse (Moon, 2002). Many individuals decline to donate organs because anyone requiring an organ transplant is placed on a waiting list and it is possible that individuals who have destroyed their organs by their own actions or convicted criminals could receive donated organs before someone whose organs are failing through no fault of their own and positively contribute to society. When a celebrity or wealthy individual requires a transplant they are often viewed as "jumping" the waitlist but

Organ donation begins with a person who recognizes an opportunity to help others, enrolls in a state donor registry, and shares the decision to be a donor with family members and friends. The culmination of

There are two different systems countries use to deal with organ donations. An opt-in system where the individual needs to register to donate their organs and an opt-out system where the individual will automatically become an organ donor unless they request otherwise. Researchers from the University of Nottingham, University of Stirling and Northumbria University in the United Kingdom investigated the organ donation systems of 48 countries for a period of 13 years - 23 using an opt-in system and 25 using an opt-out system. They discovered both positive and negative outcomes with both systems. The overall data they collected concluded that the countries using the opt-in system had a higher number of kidney donations for living donors but, overall the countries using the opt-out system had a higher rate of kidney donations and organ transplants.

Main Point 2: Myths, we have all heard some, we have all believed some. But right now, I am going to set the record straight about some of the misconceptions surrounding organ donation. Organdonor.gov will tell you about many facts and myths about organ donation. So let’s start with money. I’m sure you have all heard that when a someone donates their organs, their family has to foot the bill for all it. That is completely false. There is no cost to donors or their families for organ or tissue donation. Hence the word “donation”. The donor won’t be able to have

Some people may be confused, or believe that their choice to become an organ donor could affect their hospital or doctor's decisions in regards to life saving matters. This is not true. Regardless of whether a patient is or is not an organ donor, the same life saving procedures will be applied to you the patient. Upon a patients demise, after all necessary life saving measures are taken, an organ donor will then be evaluated for possible donation ability.

According to the US Department Health & Human Service website a person will be added to the donor list every 10 minutes (Why Donate?, 2014). What if one of those individuals were in your family? Wouldn’t you want others to offer a life-saving opportunity to you? While making the choice to donate any organ is difficult you have the power to offer the needed organ to your own family or another family that may be losing hope.

c. You can choose to donate any needed organs or you can specify which organs or tissues you wish to donate.