Organ donation is life savingBy Eloria Newell James, community@leadercall.com
Sat, May 31 2008
Becoming a donor can make the difference between life and death for many.
Kary'n Hanley, living donor coordinator for Tulane Abdominal Transplant Institute in New Orleans, said while many are afraid of the process, being able to give the gift of life is rewarding.
"Every transplant center is different and rules are different," said Hanley, who works with patients who are referred to the program by a physician or contact the institute on their own. "I cannot call living donors. The living donor has to contact me."
Once the contact from a living donor is made, Hanley said the potential donor then undergo a series of tests before being designated a donor.
In Clinton R. "Tony" Landrum's case, his wife, Patricia, could not be a living donor for him.
Hanley said the length of time that a person on the waiting list can be years.
"The average waiting time for a person needing an organ is about five years," she said. "People with blood type O and B can wait up to seven years for a kidney. That's why it's important to have living donors. That way we can reduce the time on the waiting list."
Hanley said it's important to raise people's awareness of the need for organ donors.
A national donor designation report card released recently reveals a 10 percent increase in registered organ, eye and tissue donors since 2006.
The national report card prepared by Donate Life America - a not-for-profit alliance of national organizations and state teams across the United States, serving as a national voice and inspiring all people to save and enhance lives through organ, eye and tissue donation - also shows a 10 percent increase in donor designations over the last 18 months, bringing the total number of registered donors in the United States to nearly 70 million.
However DLA reports that there are still only 35 percent of licensed drivers and ID card holders who have committed themselves to donation by registering to be donors through their state registry or motor vehicle department - leaving the donor shortage a leading public health crisis.
The public can help stem the shortage of donated organs and tissue and save lives by visiting
www.donatelife.net, finding out how to be a designated donor in their state and ensuring their decision will be honored by registering.
Hanley said while all transplant institutes are govern through UNOS, live donors help increase recipients chances of survival.
"Timing is always a factor in the process. With live donors we can time it to fit those involved schedules," she explained. "We work with the Legacy Foundation.
"We are trying to increase living donors awareness," she added. "By giving a kidney to a loved one, they are taking that person off the waiting list. Also, living donors are the best way to get a kidney. Currently most kidney transplants are from deceased donors, but the outcome is much better with living donors."
Hanley said people should become aware of the need.
"Many of us will be touched by someone who will need an organ donation," she explained. "Currently over 90,000 people are on the list nationally waiting for an organ transplant. Living donors are the wave of the future."
In 2006, Donate Life America launched the Donor Designation Collaborative (DDC) as a nationwide effort to improve organ, eye and tissue donation rates in the United States. One of the main tactics to achieving the DDC's goals was ensuring that each state had an effective system for allowing individuals to legally designate themselves as donors.
The primary goal of the DDC is to obtain 100 million actionable donor designations – commitments of individuals to donate their organs and/or tissues upon their death that are recorded in a searchable donor registry. A secondary goal for the DDC is to attain a 50 percent designation rate among licensed drivers in every state – that is, half of all people applying for or renewing a driver's license or ID card are registering to be donors.
In 2007, only four states had a designation rate of at least 50 percent: Iowa (67 percent), Colorado (60 percent), Ohio (52 percent) and Utah (50 percent). Six other states are nearing the goal.
"By sharing their best practices for registry design and public education, state teams will lead the way in helping individuals ensure their donation decision is honored, to the benefit of people in need and families who will take pride in the generosity of their loved ones," said G. David Fleming, President of Donate Life America.
"State donor registries play an essential role in the donation process by enabling individuals to make a decision that is similar to an advanced directive. In this case, donor designations authorize donation recovery agencies to proceed with donation," said Sara Pace Jones, Chairman of Donate Life America. These legally binding donation decisions are critical for the nearly 100,000 people who are on the national organ transplant waiting list and many more awaiting cornea and tissue transplants to restore their lives and health.
In 2007, 1,521 organ donors had joined their state registry before their death.
"The seemingly small decision by these individuals to register as donors had a huge impact on the lives of the approximately 4,600 people who received lifesaving organ transplants as a result," said Pace Jones.
Additionally, it is estimated that registered donors enhanced or saved the lives of more than 300,000 people through tissue donation and gave sight to more than 14,000 through cornea donation.
Because the majority of Americans designate donation decisions through their state motor vehicle department, Donate Life America and state donor registries are partnering with these agencies to meet this national public health need, facilitate an increase in donor designations and save more lives.
For a copy of the National Donor Designation Report Card or more information on how to commit to
becoming an organ, eye and tissue donor in each state, visit
http://www.donatelife.net/news/DDC+Report+Card+04-17-07.pdfFor more information about Legacy go to
www.organawareness.org; or Tulane's program go to
www.tulanetransplant.com; or
www.lopa.comhttp://www.leadercall.com/local/local_story_139123728.html
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