Are you an Organ Donor?

It is also a good idea to communicate your wishes to your family and friends. More often then not, a potential donor's wishes are ignored in favor of the family's grief and shock over the decision to donate. The moments between death and transplant are preciously few and not the time for families to be notified of your choice.

Yes. I have a card that says so; my family knows, and my doctor knows. Any organ they can use.

I'm an organ donor - And, my family knows.

Me, too. I am frightened by the lack of blood donors. When I was in college the fraternities and sororities would compete to see who could have the biggest participation. Non-Greek organizations would compete. Is that done anymore? In the US we are down to something like a one day supply of blood needed for surgery vs an opitmum 3-4 day supply.

Yes. It's on our driver's licences here.

Thank you all for forwarding this info.

Wonderful, loved people are dying needlessly--while life-saving organs are buried in dead bodies.

Donors--bless you.

Got called last night - need O- badly - I cannot give right now

I'm unable to give blood for several years. Due to my previous lifestyle, and some of the less than respectable ladies I've "known"

In Germany, you can't have that put in your driver's licence. So you get a kind of 'organ donor ID card' which I have. My husband also knows that I want my organs to be donated when I am dead.

I work for a company that makes dialyzers, machines for blood donation and other blood treatment machines. This of course makes me even more aware of how important it is to donate blood and organs.

I also donate blood because I can do that now while I'm still alive...

urs53
Thanks for the gift of life!

Because of my medical history, I can't give blood, so I assume that they would not use my organs for donations. But, if medical science wanted to experiment on, or study my lifeless body, so that it might do society some good, I am all for it!

Phoenix - check it out, you might be surprised. Thank You

I used to give blood fairly often, but now I can't. Why? The local blood bank now rules out those who spent too much time in the UK since 1980. Fear of mad cow disease...

I am signed up as an organ donor for the state of IL, but I had always thought to donate my body for science after my inevitable passing for the greater good. Any ideas on how one goes about signing up for a program or making it clear to family members (legally) that those are one's last wishes? (especially if there is a specific program one would be interested in being "involved" in?)

Here is some information about organ donation that I found in our company data base:

The New England Organ Bank announced that Maine passed a bill giving priority to the donation wishes of organ donors.
Before the law was passed, next-of-kin could override the intent of the deceased. With the new law, the first of its kind in the nation, next-of-kin may continue to override the intent of the deceased to donate, but they first will be counseled through a process requiring a signed acknowledgment of the intent of the deceased. The new policy is anticipated to boost the number of organs available for patients with life-threatening illnesses. The legislation also authorizes a centralized database maintained by the state Department of Motor Vehicles and secure web site that enables organ procurement specialists to access donors' wishes and share them with family. The database will come online in 2004.

Data presented at the Congress of the European Society for Organ Transplantation in Venice, revealed that in the U.S., the number of living donors now exceeds the number who donate following their death, with the proportion of the total predicted to increase.
The latest data available (up to the end of 2001) show that 52% of donors were living donors and that the number in creased by an average of 12% each year in the previous five years, compared with 2% from deceased donors. In contrast, during the same period the number of patients on the cadaveric organ waiting list increased by 11% per year. Greater focus has been placed on living-donation of organs as the number of people requiring a kidney transplant greatly exceeds the number of donor organs available. As transplantation has become more and more successful, the numbers and types of people who are now considered possible candidates to benefit from a transplant has grown, and demand for donor organs is expected to continue to far exceed organ availability.

I too am an organ donor!

I too am a blood donor - the universal donor. The Red Cross loves me. I have "great veins".

My dad died of Alheimer's disease and donated his body to the University of Texas Medical School. Every time I hear about a breakthrough in the treatment of Alzheimer's patients I beam my thanks up to dad.

To me, part of showing my appreciation for my life is to give my body to whoever needs it when I die.

Thanks for sharing boomerang!

When my younger son died of a head injury the medical staff was thrilled that the family brought up the topic of organ donation. Young adults and children make excellent donors, but accidental death is so bitter for the families that in many cases medical people hate to ask.

My son is dead. His kidneys, liver, lungs, heart valves, skin, tissue and bones have helped others live longer lives.

Wow Noddy....

I am a donor, and also support stem-cell research.