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Clearing up the myths and misperceptions of Organ Donation and Transplantation
FACT: Organ and tissue recovery takes place only after all efforts to save your life have been exhausted and death has been legally declared. Consent must be obtained from the family of the potential donor before donation can occur. Cadaveric organ donation is only possible when brain death is diagnosed and declared. Tissue donation is possible when death results either from cardiac arrest or neurological cessation.
After brain death, the body's organs can be maintained with ventilator and circulatory support for a short period before losing viability for transplantation. Even though death has occurred, the body may appear to be alive for a short period of time because of all this support. Medical personnel may mistakenly refer to the mechanical support as 'life support'. Mechanical maintenance of a dead body is not the same as providing and removing support from a living patient. Brain death and the maintenance process should be clearly understood by everyone. Health care professionals can help by precisely explaining death and the donation process.
FACT: Organ and tissue recovery takes place only after all efforts to save your life have been exhausted and death has been legally declared. The medical staff attending you are completely separate from the organ recovery agency and the transplant team. This is both required by law and ethical medical practice. Extensive brain death tests are performed. The organ recovery agency does not notify the transplant team until your family has consented to donation.
FACT: The attending staff are fully focused on the care of the patient. Donation is considered only after all efforts have been made to save the patient's life. The physician who attends a patient at the time of death is not involved with the transplant programs operations or administration or with potential recipients. This is both required by law and ethical medical practice.
Procurement coordinators (also known as Organ Donor Coordinators) serve as intermediaries between donor hospital/attending physicians and transplant programs and teams. The donor hospital notifies the procurement organisation when a possible donor is identified. At this point there may be some interaction by the attending staff with procurement coordinators.
FACT: Most major organised religions support donation as a humanitarian act in keeping with religious doctrine. The Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu faiths all regard donation as a personal decision. Families who have religious questions are advised to consult with their personal spiritual advisors.
FACT: Donation occurs within a few hours of the family giving consent. The time available between declaration of death and donation is 12 - 24 hours for most organs and tissues. After donation surgery, the body is immediately released to the funeral service provider and funeral plans can proceed.
When the case involves the medical examiner's office, the medical examiner, with the consent of the next of kin, will release the body to the procurement organisation for retrieval of organs and tissues. After the autopsy, the medical examiner will release the body to the funeral home.
FACT: Transplantation of vital organs, in most cases, is regarded as therapeutic standard medical practice.
Graft and patient survival for primary deceased donor grafts performed in Australia have shown gradual improvement over the past decade with a one year survival of a graft consistently over 90%.
Excellent early survival rates have been evident since 1991 for primary live donor graft recipients in Australia; five year patient survival progressively improved to 97% for the 1999 - 2000 period.
FACT: A person becomes eligible to receive a donated organ or organs by getting on the national list of transplant candidates. The decision to proceed with transplant as a medical treatment is made by the patient and his or her doctor. The patient is anonymously evaluated for transplant based on a variety of medical and psychological criteria. When the patient meets the evaluation criteria, his or her name and needs are entered on the national waiting list.
FACT: Geographical proximity is a key criteria in organ distribution. When a donation is made, the procurement organisation first attempts to place the organ in the immediate area or within the state. If a qualified recipient is not found locally, the search then turns to the national list, then to New Zealand, then overseas. Every effort is made to find recipients as close as possible to the donation site.
Corneas are allocated and distributed locally except in urgent cases where the cornea may be transferred interstate by specific arrangement between the two eye banks, or an eye bank and a particular ophthalmologist.
FACT: It is against the law to sell organs. Violation of the law carries significant penalties including prison sentences and heavy fines.
Organ procurement agencies such a s Lifelink (NSW), South Australian Organ Donation Agency, Donate West (WA), LifeGift (VIC and TAS), LifeNet (NT), ACT Organ and Tissue Donation and Queenslanders Donate, co-ordinate all activities associated with donation, including distribution and non-profit services certified and monitored by the Australian Red Cross.
FACT: This tale has been widely circulated over the internet. There is absolutely no evidence of such activity ever occurring in Australia or any other industrialized country. While the tale may sound credible, it has no basis in the reality of organ transplantation.
FACT: Registering with the Australia Organ Donor Registry, combined with family discussion of donation, is the most certain method of having your wishes carried out. It is a positive statement to family and physicians that the individual wants to consent to be a donor. Consent to donation is required from the donor's legal next of kin. This decision must be made quickly. Registering with the Australian Organ Donor Registry and/or indicating your wishes on your driver's licence tells the next of kin that you have thoughtfully considered donation, and made your own decision. Stating that you want to be a donor on your driver's licence and joining the Australian Organ Donor Registry tends to initiate family discussions about donation.
To ensure consent is legally valid, only people aged 18 years and over will be able to record their consent on the Donor Register. Registrations of intent will be accepted from people aged 16 and 17 years, but in these cases consent from families will still be needed for transplantation to take place.
Recording your decision on the Register is voluntary, and individuals can limit their donation to only certain organs or tissue. The potential donor has complete choice over which organs and tissue they are prepared to donate. Donation can involve:
· organs - which include kidneys, heart, lungs, liver and pancreas; and
· tissue - which include heart valves, bone tissue, bone marrow, skin and corneal (eye) tissue.
Medicare Australia maintains the Australian Organ Donor Registry.
FACT: Organs may be donated from newborns on up. At the time of your death, the appropriate medical professionals will determine whether your organs are useable.
FACT: At the time of your death, the appropriate medical professionals will review your medical and social histories to determine whether or not you can be a donor. With recent advances in transplantation, many more people than ever before can be donors.
FACT: The most frequently donated organs include kidneys, heart, lungs, liver and pancreas, while tissues include cornea (eyes), bone, bone marrow, heart valves and skin. You can specify which organs and / or tissues you wish to donate.
FACT: Donated organs are removed surgically, in a routine operation similar to gallbladder or appendix removal. Donation doesn't disfigure the body or change the way it looks in a casket. It is important to remove the organs and or tissues in a way they are able to be transplanted and every care and respect is taken with the donor.
Transplant Australia is supporting the establishment of a Foundation to raise money for the late V8 Supercar driver Ashley Cooper's partner Casey and their young children Ella and Bailey.
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Click here to donate to the Transplant Australia Trust - Ashley Cooper Foundation.
Key members of the National Clinical Taskforce into Organ and Tissue Donation presented their final report to the new Labor Government on Thursday, February 14.
Transplant Australia has released the 2007 Annual Report.
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