Around 120,000 people in the United States are in need of a lifesaving organ transplant.
There are many misconceptions related to organ donation that need clearing up! Read below to learn more.
1. Opposed to what many think, when an individual is admitted to the hospital the staff will try just as hard to save your life if you are a registered donor, opposed to if you were not. The one and only priority of the hospital staff is to save your life.
Donation does not become a possibility until all lifesaving methods have failed.
2. Anyone, regardless of age or medical history, and health can sign up to be a donor.
It will be determined at an individual’s time of death whether donation is possible. Even with an illness, you may be able to donate your organs or tissues. Very few medical conditions automatically disqualify an individual. Certain organs may not be suitable, but that does not mean all will be disqualified.
3. There’s no age limit to organ donation.
To date, the oldest donor in the U.S. was 93 years old, while the oldest donor internationally was 107 years old. What matters is the health and condition of your organs and tissues upon death.
4. Most major religions in the United States support organ donation and consider donation as a person’s final act of love and generosity toward another.
For more on religion and organ donation, click here.
5. A national computer system matches donated organs to recipients – it is completely based on the system with no outlying factors considered.
The factors used in matching include blood type, time spent waiting, other important medical information, how sick the person is, and geographic location. Race, income, celebrity status, and income are never considered.
6. An open casket funeral is usually possible for organ, eye, and tissue donors.
Through the entire donation process the body is treated with care, respect, and dignity
7.There is no cost to donors or their families for organ or tissue donation.
An organ donor’s family is never charged for donation. The family is charged for the costs of all final efforts to save the life of the individual, and those costs are sometimes misinterpreted as costs related to organ donation. Costs for organ removal go to the transplant recipient.
8.There is no chance of being accidentally declared dead before donating organs.
Although it is a popular topic in the tabloids, in reality, people who have agreed to organ donation are given additional tests, at no charge to their families, to determine that they are truly deceased. More tests are given to organ donors after death than are those who have not agreed to donate their organs.
Sources:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/organ-donation/art-20047529
https://www.organdonor.gov/about/facts-terms/donation-myths-facts.html