What is Organ Donation?
The process of Organ Donation is the removal of an organ, such as the heart, lungs etc, from someone’s body ,a most commonly dead body and rarely from a living donor, for the purpose of placing (transplanting) them into other persons body so they can their body systems can then function properly.
Organs are removed in ways very much like surgery. All incisions are closed at the end of the surgery as to prevent bacteria from destroying the organ. People of all ages may be Organ Donors.
Donations of organs from people who have already died are much more common than donations made by living people.
The process of Organ Donation:
A patient who is registered as an organ Donor is declared dead at a Hospital.
The doctor speaks to the family in regard to whether they would like their dead family member to donate his/her organs to a recipient in need.
The dead patient is tested again to double check that he/she is definitely dead.
The OCD (organ donor coordinator) then declares that the patient is on the Organ Donor List and meets with the patients family to offer their condolences and to discuss the process of Organ Donation and answer and questions they may have.
The doctors then assess the patients organs with a variety of tests to determine whether the person’s organs (liver,heart,lung,kidney and pancreas) are suitable to be transplanted.
Surgery is then performed to remove the organs from the donors body and they are then preserved in materials such as ice to keep them safe from bacteria.
A recipient for the body parts is found and the family are informed on the recipient and how they are after the transplantation. The family are then given the recipients contact details when the time is right.
Why Become an Organ Donor?
Just one Organ Donor can save up to 10 Peoples lives.
There are over 2000 people on the waiting list for an Organ Transplant. Around 100 of these people die waiting for an organ.
Who can become an...