Being an organ donor is one of the easiest, most selfless things you can do for others. There is always a high demand for organ donors, as there is a much higher number of people in need than there are donors. One person can save the lives of 10 other people! Someone in need of a new organ often can be on a waitlist for months or even years, depending on what they need. How soon they receive an organ is determined by the severity of their conditions, when they were declared in need of a transplant, and many other factors. Unfortunately, some people are misinformed about the benefits of being a donor due to common myths and fears, such as “the doctor’s won’t work as hard to save me if I am a donor.” This is completely false! A doctor’s first priority is always with the patient at hand, and they would never let one patient die for the benefit of another. In actuality, other than religious or personal reasons, there are absolutely no negatives to becoming an organ donor.

There are three main categories of organ donation, according to Better Health Channel:

“Brain death – This is where a person no longer has blood going to or activity in their brain due to a severe brain injury. They have permanently lost the potential for consciousness and the capacity to breathe. This may happen even when a ventilator is keeping the person’s heart beating and oxygen is circulated through their blood.

• Brain death is not the same as being in a coma. A person in a coma is unconscious because their brain is injured in some way. In a coma, the brain continues to function and may heal. With brain death however, there is no possibility of recovery as the brain has ceased to function and cannot recover.
• For brain death, a series of tests are carried out by two independent and appropriately qualified senior doctors to establish that death has occurred.

Circulatory death – Is the irreversible loss of function of circulation after a cardiac arrest from which the patient cannot or should not be resuscitated. It can also be the planned withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from a patient within the Intensive Care Unit or the Emergency Department.

• For circulatory death, the patient is monitored closely and donation will only precede once circulation irrevocable ceases. Timeframes are very short for this pathway of organ donation because organs cannot be without oxygenated blood and outside the body for a long period of time.

Living donation – Whilst you are still alive you can choose to donate a kidney, a small section of your liver, or discarded bone from a hip or knee replacement. Australia also has a paired kidney exchange programme that helps people who need a kidney transplant, but don’t have a compatible live-donor.”

There are very few reasons why a person cannot donate their organs, including severe illnesses such as cancer or a systemic infection. Medical professionals will make those decisions prior to donation. You should never rule yourself out as a donor until discussing it with your primary physician.

Becoming a donor is a very simple process, the first option is by signing up at your local motor vehicle department. You also have the option of declaring yourself a donor online (all you have to do is click the link below and you can have it done in just a few moments!)

To become and organ donor click the link below:

https://organdonor.gov/register.html#register