What Can Be Donated?Up to 50 lives can be saved or enhanced by a single donor. Solid organs alone can help up to eight individuals, and tissue can help many times that number.
The Donation ProcessWhen a person is nearing death, hospital staff contact their designated organ procurement organization (OPO). After consent and obtaining preliminary medical information via telephone, a PNTB organ donation coordinator comes on site to begin the donation process. The coordinator obtains a medical and behavioral history from the donor’s family to help ascertain any history that would affect organ function. The coordinator orders a series of diagnostic tests and lab work to further evaluate organ function. Simultaneously, the coordinator contacts the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) to get the most up-to-date lists of patients awaiting transplant. When the lab results and diagnostics are complete, the coordinator will place the organs for transplant with the patients having highest priority. Hospital staff are key to ensuring hemodynamic stability of the donor until the recovery surgery itself. Organ recovery takes place in the hospital’s operating room, and the hospital's O.R. and anesthesiology staff assist the transplant teams. PNTB staff assist with the preservation of organs and then package the organs for transplantation. Within a day or two, a hospital services coordinator will follow up with hospital staff to get feedback about the donation case. PNTB's Family Resource Program provides aftercare bereavement services to all donor families through phone calls, letters and mailings, and facilitates correspondence between donor families and recipients. Frequently Asked Questions and MythsTransplantation has saved and enhanced the lives of hundreds of thousands of people over recent decades. It has proven such a successful treatment for many forms of end-stage organ disease that most major medical insurers pay for the procedure. Still, misunderstanding, confusion and even urban myths persist. Get the facts here.
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Additional Resources
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