Donation is the giving of an organ and tissue to help someone that needs a transplant.
Transplants can save or transform the life of a person. One organ and tissue donor can help transform the lives of more than 10 people. This relies on donors and their families agreeing to donate their organ and tissue after death.
Why is Organ Donation Important?
At any one time, there are around 1,400 Australians on the organ transplant waiting list. Unfortunately, there are fewer donor organs available than there are people waiting. Some people die waiting for a transplant. Some spend weeks or months in hospital, while others make several trips to hospital every week for treatment.
People who need an organ transplant are usually very sick or dying, because one or more of their organs is failing. They range from children through to older Australians.
Many on the organ transplant waiting list have a congenital or genetic condition, illness or sudden organ failure that will make them very sick and in need of a transplant.
We never know when illness could affect a family member, friend or colleague who may need a transplant.
What Organs Can be Donated?
There are three pathways to organ donation:
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.
Why your loved ones should know your decision on Wills Estate:
If you are in a position to donate organs or tissue and you have registered,
Letting your next of kin or closest friends and family know what you’ve decided now makes it much easier for them.
Knowing donation is what you wanted could make their decision a lot easier when they are trying to deal with their loss.
The best way to help others after your death is by:
- Joining the Australian Organ Donor Register (easily done through Wills Estate)
- talking about your decision with family and friends
- Don’t leave it solely up to your family to decide whether or not to donate your organs and/or tissues. Let them know your decision.
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