To become an organ donor is to join an exclusive club. More than two million Americans die every year, but only about 15,000 die under circumstances making them medically eligible to donate organs - primarily, being declared brain-dead in the hospital. Of the estimated 15,000 patient deaths, only about 6,000 currently end up donating organs. For most of the remaining patients, families often say "
no" to donation because they did not know what their loved ones would have wanted. This is one of the major factors contributing to the gap between the number of patients waiting for transplants and the number of organs donated. Public opinion polls consistently show that more than 90 percent of the American people would like to donate their organs at the time of death, yet as many as half of the families say "no" to organ donation when a loved one dies. People age 18 or older can legally donate their organs and tissues by signing a donor card or by registering as a donor through the driver license program. To maximize the chances of actually becoming a donor, talk to your family members about your wishes. Conversations with family members are crucial because the medical community, giving priority to emotions that bind families together, is unlikely to pursue donation if a family objects. To check the number of Americans waiting for a life-giving organ, please visit www.unos.org
