Organ Donation and Cremation
Deciding to become an organ donor is an incredibly generous and altruistic endeavor. In the United States, for example, nearly seven thousand people die each year because they are unable to receive the organ that they need. As organ donors are always needed, in every country, it is no surprise that the number of people who choose to become a donor are increasing. However, when a person decides to become an organ donor, they tend to have questions related to the burial or cremation that they have requested upon their death.
Setting up Your Organ Donation
In the United States, it is very easy to become an organ donor. When anyone of legal age to drive acquires a driver's license, there will be an option on the forms
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In addition to the physical license, the Department of Motor Vehicles will also have the organ donor request on file electronically. While any hospitals or physicians will be able to access your organ donor information, it is still a good idea to share your decision with family and local physicians. Doing so will decrease the chance of confusion if an emergency were to arise leading to your death.
How Organ Donation Affects Your Doctor's Decisions
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.
In rare circumstances, a person who has requested to become a donor never actually donates. However, in most cases, the hospital staff will evaluate things like blood type and overall organ health, to then get the ball rolling for organ donation. Sometimes, people are under the false impression that organ donation costs money. Actually, donating your organs upon death is absolutely
Death is inevitable and no one knows what happens after someone dies. Being an organ donor could mean the body of the deceased would be taken away from the family members when they die. But, in a way, the deceased
First of all, everyone should be an organ donor because once you have died there is no need for your organs therefore rather than wasting useful organs they could be used to save another’s life. Statistics show that a single tissue donation can improve lives of 40 people and an organ can save 8. Donating your organs gives others an opportunity for a new life. In addition, after death, they would not be affected in any way with their organs gone and their families wouldn’t have an issue regarding this either because there is no cost. Once a person has deceased, hospitals notify the Organ Procurement Organizations and or Tissue/ Eye banks of death. The organs or tissues then get tested to determine whether the body will accept the organs or not. This step ensures considerably lower risks of the receiving patient’s body rejecting the organ or tissue. Donating
Fill out an organ donor registration from available in all government hospitals, District Health Department or Centers or you might refer to websites National Transplant Resources Centre.
Catalina Rojas Oct 7, 2014 Com. 100 T/Th 9:35 Becoming an Organ Donor I. Introduction: A. In 1954 the first successful organ transplant was done. Ever since then organ transplants have saved millions of lives. B. Organdonor.gov an official US government website states that “Each day, an average of 79 people receive organ transplants. However, an average of 18 people die each day waiting for transplants that never happen because of the shortage of donated organs”.
Your ability to donate organs is determined at your time of death. There are a few conditions that rule you out for organ
Besides the above groups, United Network Organ Sharing and Organ Procurement Transplantation Network are essential in organ transplantation. These organizations make it possible. UNOS “created efficient distribution system of deceased organs that allow for fair and timely allocation, formulated a patient waiting list, and set up a system to publicize the need for organ donations.” With UNOS, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), work with local Organ Procurement Organizations (OPO). OPO representatives meet with families of recently deceased individuals to discuss the possibility of organ donations. They assist in the evaluation of organs, their likelihood of medical use, and if organs are usable, recovery, preservation and transport. Here in Philadelphia, we have the Gift of
The first step of becoming a donor is giving consent to be a donor by registering in your state. Keep in mind just by signing up it doesn’t mean that you will be for sure able to donate your organs, eyes, or tissues because registering usually takes several years before the actual donation, but it’s good to be eligible to save lives.
When someone decides to become an organ donor, they must file the appropriate paperwork with the Department of Motor Vehicles. After selecting to become an organ donor, each donor's driver's license will reflect the organ donation election.
Every person is medically evaluated when they pass away and a physician can determine what organs or tissues are viable to be donated. Some might also believe if they are an organ donor, their lives will not be saved in a situation if need be. This is not true, as a medical professional it is their job to save a life or fix an injury when a person comes into the hospital, donation is not even considered until that person is declared dead. So taking all of these fears into consideration one should really consider being an organ
has increased from 30,000 to more than 122,000. Though the amount of people waiting exceeds 122,000, only about 31,000 transplants take place. Right now, the main organs that a person can donate encompass the heart, two lungs, liver, pancreas, two kidneys, and the intestines. These eight conventional organs demonstrate the beginning
It is important to recognize the factors that play a role in a potential donor's decision to partake in organ donation either in death or while living. First and foremost, an internal drive to help others is a quality that should visibly shine in the individual. Also, their selfless character and willingness to help those around them should be unmistakably apparent. Given that sometimes the recipient will be a person who they know, when the donor recognizes how much that person means to them, suddenly the sacrifices required to make organ donation a success will be put by the wayside. Most commonly, family members or close friends of the potential donors are experiencing medical issues that require a new organ or an addition of tissue. Proceeding
The donor is kept on life support however due to the organs having to be alive during removal and transplant. If the body is dead, the heart will stop pumping blood to all other organs, and eventually they will begin to shut down, making the organs essentially useless. They would be in no condition to function as normal in another body, hence why the donor must have blood pumping and kept on life support to keep the organs from dying or failing. Something many families also worry about is that doctors will not provide as much care, or make a big enough effort to keep them alive, for a donor since there is a high demand for organs for transplants. While this is mainly untrue, there have been cases of doctors purposely neglecting to give proper care to donor patients in fatal conditions, seeing that their bodies will be repurposed anyway. This is not right. People are people, and no matter whether they are a donor or not, they all deserve equal care. The donation is if they die after all efforts and resources have been used, their life shouldn't just be forfeit because a doctor decides their organs are “more
To give an idea, around 120 million people in the United States are registered donors (Organ Donation: The Process). There are nearly 319 million people in the United States (How Many of Me). Therefore, there are some that are not registered as well as some who oppose the idea. First, some religions are against organ donation. Although not as popular in the United States, many religions in other parts of the world have different opinions. For example, in Japan, “Shinto traditions say that the body, once dead, is impure; also, tradition says that defiling a corpse brings bad luck to the person who does it.” (Where Your Religion). As a result, organ donation cannot occur under these circumstances. Not only in religions, but there are many myths that prevent one from being an organ donor. The first myth is the idea that if you are an organ donor, the doctor’s wont make as big of an effort to save your life. In other words, this is the belief that a doctor will not try as hard to save your life in order to make a profit from transplantation. (Consumer Health) This is indeed a myth because it is a doctor’s job to save your life. Not only this, the doctor does not necessarily make the profit from a transplantation. Next, some believe they won’t really be dead when the organ transplantation occurs. This is a controversial topic but proved to be false
The doctors will only do this if it is a really bad car accident or something major; but between me and you I wouldn’t tell anyone you are a organ donor they will harassed you for your organs none stop. If your organs are bad and so called “died” then they want take that organ out, but if some still work they might as well use them; you are saving a life you know. During organ transplants you can save up to as many as eight people lives; living donors can donate organs too (www.organdonor.com) . While during the transplant the organ can get damage and injured, the doctors try to take their time but it still get
Donor organs fall into two categories: those from living and those from deceased (where most come from). Deceased donors can donate: two kidneys, two lungs, a liver, heart, pancreas, intestines, as well as hands and faces. Living donors can donate: one kidney, one lung, portions of the intestine, liver, or pancreas (“What Can Be Donated,” n.d.). The problem with using deceased donor’s organs is that there are only about 10,000 to 12,000 deaths annually that occur in such a way for the organs to be viable for transplant, meaning a small chance of finding a match (Espejo, 2003). The ideal organ comes from a donor with the same blood