To ask you not to leave it until it's too late.....

[KnappShappey]

to discuss organ donation with your family and next of kin.

New statistics released today show that organ donation has dropped by 5% for the first time in 10 years.....

Only 58% of families allowed organ donation to go ahead despite the wishes of their loved ones.

Don't leave it to your family to struggle with the decision once you have gone, discuss it today........

You can register online and share your decision on Facebook to raise awareness amongst friends.

[ZadokTheBeast]

Knapp couldn't agree more - unless/until we are able to do more to reduce the refusal rate, there's a real need to press on with transplant research - e.g. marginal/bridge organs, non heart beating donors, xenotransplantation, living donation.

[whereismagic]

What would be helpful is a clear explanation how organs are harvested (when, how etc) in detail. I talked to a nurse at a conference and she said having witnessed the procedure she is against it. Unfortunately, she didn't want to elaborate.

[LibrariesGaveUsPower]

magic - what, she thought transplantation should not exist?

[Tiptops]

Great posts Zadok


OP, I agree that there does need to be more discussion and awareness around loved ones wishes and plans for organ donation. I bet a lot of people refuse organ donation for their relatives because it comes as a shock at such a sad time.

Completely disagree with those calling family members who overrule organ donors wishes 'selfish'. What a callous and simplistic term to use for people experiencing the heartbreak of the death and grief of losing a loved one. Once a person is facing death, it is basic compassion to consider the fact that their loved ones are now suffering terribly. Some people would find it impossible to choose for their loved ones to pass away in an operating theatre alone, instead of peacefully in a bed surrounded by family.

Yes organ donation is a wonderfully kind and generous choice to make, but condemning people who aren't able to make that choice certainly doesn't help the cause.

[whereismagic]

I think she had concerns about the way (some?) procedures are done. There is obviously a need but there are different ways to do it.

[Nofunkingworriesmate]

My parents were killed just a month after meeting their long awaited ( IVF) first grand twins
we offered them up as donors as was their wishes, sadly the speeding, drug addled driver made their bodies useless, devastated they could not be donors
Just trying to be helpful was a comfort ...though we did have to push the point at the hospital, if we , the next of kin had not pushed point it would not have even been attempted
Please don't speed
Please don't smoke weed then drive

[ZadokTheBeast]

whereismagic it happens in theatre, so for the relative it is just like saying goodbye to someone who is going in for an operation. The donor is brain dead but appears just to be unconscious or under anaesthetic. It is extremely challenging, from an anaesthetic point of view, to keep someone in a heartbeating state after brain death, as all sorts of physiological changes can occur. It is the job of the anaesthetist to keep the donor 'stable' and heartbeating until the required organs are removed - those that deteriorate fastest (heart and lungs) are taken first, followed by liver and kidneys and whatever else. There is usually more than one transplant team working (i.e. one will deal with the cardiac/pulmonary side, one with the hepatic/renal). Tissue like tendons and corneas can also be taken. Before any of this happens, the transplant coordinators at the donor hospital and the potential recipient hospitals will have been working like crazy trying to get the logistics sorted out. The removed organs are packed up and sent away, the deceased is 'tidied up' for want of a better phrase, and things progress as normal from there. That's the process in a nutshell really.

[tilliebob]

Funking

[Nofunkingworriesmate]

The team that dealt with my parents were amazing can't thank them enough, very skilled and compassionate made a very traumatic day dignified, did not view bodies after "harvest" tho
Would defo be donor myself after seeing procedure up close
It really helps with the pain of loss knowing we tried, even if it was not possible in our case

[KittyandTeal]

This is a bit of a dumb question; I'm on the donation register but don't carry a card with me. My dh and family all know and agree (the also would all donate too so I know they wouldn't suddenly go against my wishes)

My organs would definitely be donated wouldn't they? (Obviously if they are in a condition that allows it)

[Ploom]

There's a really good BBC documentary about organ donation - its from 2011 - the whole programme is on youtube (think its called transplant). Amazing to see how 3 people were helped from one woman's organs.

[MapleTownAndMe]

I gave consent to organ donation in the situation zadok describes of 'a heart beating donor' it is absolutely heartbreaking but I couldn't go against the wishes of my loved one, as I simply felt it wasn't about me. I think more awareness about the situations in which a family may be faced with this decision is needed. As said up thread not everyone is a suitable donor and often the donors haven't had a long illness therefore the family is in a state of shock as they have had no time to come to terms with their impending loss. I am on the register myself btw and as a family we know and respect each other's wishes.

[ZadokTheBeast]

Kitty It's not so much about the state of the organs as the mode of death really - e.g. people involved in accidents tha kill them outright are not viable donors. Mainly it's head injuries that leave people brain dead but still heartbeating. But yes. if the criteria were met and you were a suitable donor, there would be no reason for your n.o.k. not to be approached. Whether you're on the register or not doesn't actually matter in practice, other than to give an indication of your wishes. If you're not on it, your n.o.k. should still be asked.
However, I was involved in some research a few years ago which suggested that in some cases, relatives weren't asked or opportunities were missed for reasons related to resources, attitudes or assumptions in the potential donor's hospital. This is anecdotal though, and even if it iis still having an impact it will be a small one compared to the relative refusal rate. There is a network of transplant coordinators, usually based in hospitals with major A&E, trauma and/or neurosurgical units, whose job it is to maxmise opportunities and they are very diligent and highly skilled in approaching families in the most compassionate and effective way.

[BarbaraManatee]

Not only am I on the donor register, which DH knows & agrees with, but I'm currently waiting to find out if I'll be a match to be a live donor for a relative. Do I get a gold ?

[Cass168]

Wales is introducing a "soft opt-out" system at the end of the year or maybe early next year, not sure. It'll be interesting to see how it affects waiting lists.

[Cass168]

Here's a bit more info - basically you won't need to register in wales shortly:
organdonationwales.org/?lang=en

[Gatehouse77]

I would not describe relatives who don't accept the wishes of the deceased as selfish but I still can't fathom why they wouldn't...

[ProcrastinatorGeneral]

I'm on the register. My ex is too, as are our three children. I'd like to think that my next of kin would honour our wishes. If prefer a hard opt in/out system or a presumed in system to be fair.

[UnsolvedMystery]

I am fully in favour of the opt-out system.
I would like to see the person's wishes being legally binding, but I do see the difficulty for physicians with that. I think that once it was an accepted norm, people would get used to it.

Corneas can be donated for several hours after death. The donor does not have to have been on life support.

[MissDemelzaCarne]

I'm disappointed that 42% of potential donors had their wishes overridden.

[Groovee]

I've been registered since I was 15.

My dad had a transplant in 2002, so my wishes are well known and dh has said I can donate his.

I do need to sit down with dd and Ds and ask their wishes.

[TheFormidableMrsC]

I know two people whose lives have been saved by organ donation....one has recently celebrated 21 years of life he wouldn't have had if it weren't for the love and generosity of his donor family. The other is a little boy with, hopefully, his whole life ahead of him now.

I am registered, my four year old is registered but my DD wishes to think about it first, which is her call.

I have made sure my family know my wishes and I trust they will adhere to them should anything happen to me.

[PtolemysNeedle]

Zadock, you have explained exactly why I don't want to donate.

I really can't see how it's selfish just to want your body to die at about the same time as your brain, it's what is naturally supposed to happen. The science that has enabled successful transplants is amazing, but that doesn't mean it's for everyone.

I'd have thought that in some of the cases where relatives had overruled a relative who had agreed to donate, they were going to be too distressed by the reality of what happens to allow it to go ahead.

Maybe if the NHS wants to end this problem and to increase donation rates, then it should explain what happens with a public information campaign so that people aren't put in the awful position of only finding out how organ harvesting works when they've just been told their loved one has died and they're being expected to make a huge decision.

[MissDemelzaCarne]

I agree that it is not a decision that should be made when people have had the most devastating news possible and are understandably traumatised.

People make the decision to join the register in the cold light of day after some thought, their autonomous decision should not be be able to be overridden, providing they had mental capacity, by someone else in a highly emotional state.

[StitchingMoss]

It makes me really cross when friends say to me that they won't donate organs because they want to be buried/cremated whole, but then say they would of course accept donated organs from others.

While I know it wouldn't work in practise, I do have huge issues with donating my organs to someone too selfish to donate theirs.