Seven common questions about donating organs
---and their answers.
Q. How serious is the organ shortage?
A. More than 60,000 Americans are waiting
to receive lifesaving organ transplants.
A new name is added to the national waiting list every 16 minutes.
Unfortunately, ten people die each day waiting for an organ.
Q. How do I become and organ donor?
A. Tell your family your wishes.
In the event of your death,
your next of kin’s permission must be obtained.
An organ donor card or your driver’s license
are only indications of your wishes.
Family consent must still be obtained.
Q. What is brain death?
A. A person can only become an organ donor
if he or she dies from a brain death injury.
Brain death is death.
It occurs when the brain and the brain stem stop functioning.
Q. Is brain death the same as a coma or vegetative state?
A. No. A person in a coma or vegetative state
still has some brain activity and, therefore, has not died.
Q. If the medical team knows a person is a donor
will they be tempted to “jump the gun”
and not give that person a fighting chance to be revived?
A. No. The doctors who determine brain death
are not the same doctors involved in transplantation.
Q. Are there religious reasons not to donate?
A. Most major religions,
including the Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish faiths,
support organ donation as a virtuous and charitable act.
Other religions view donation as a personal choice.
Generally, Christians believe that God’s ability to resurrect us
is not dependent on whether or not
all our parts were connected at death.
This relates not only to organ donation,
but also to victims of burning and explosive accidents, and war.
Religions that may be exceptions
are some branches of the Shinto faith
and the folk beliefs of various gypsies.
Q. Do the rich and famous
have a better chance of receiving a transplant?
A. Eligibility to receive an organ transplant
is not determined by a person’s financial status or celebrity.
Organs are fairly allocated based upon medical urgency,
blood type, weight, size, genetic typing,
and length of time on the waiting list.
Information from LifeSource