Organ Donation Essay, Research Paper

Organ Donation

I would like to introduce you to a special family. The California family went on a vacation to southern Italy where a band of highway robbers shot and killed the little boy. The devastated family stunned Italy when they decided to donate his organs to help others. The precious donation by this family was transplanted into seven people, five of which are still alive today. This donation was the starting point for Italy’s organ donation program. Italy has now climbed to the European average of transplantations.

Of all the resources in the United States, organs are lacking in number. When asked many people say they will donate their organs. In reality only + or less will donate organs. Some people are either afraid to donate or think that someone else will and they don’t have to.

According to the National Organ and Tissue Donation Initiative, 62,000 patients await transplants nationwide. Out of all these people, only 1/3 or less receive the transplants. That is about 22,000 people. Twelve of which die each day waiting for organs that may never come. Since there are so few donors, more and more people die each year.

Organ transplantation has been a medical procedure for only the past thirty years. Since then the number of transplants has risen from 12,618 in 1988 to 20,961 in 1998. This may seen like a lot of people, but in reality this is just a few of the people waiting for transplants. Transplantation patients range from non-urgent to extremely urgent. The extremely urgent patients are those that need organs or they will die in a very short time.

In most states, the law is written that if a person dies, his/her organs are donated first to the people of that state. Then if there is no match patients who are extremely urgent are given the organ. The reason this occurs is that organs can’t stay alive for very long amounts of time. Years ago, surgeons had to operate immediately so the organ wouldn’t die. Today through scientific advancements, scientist have found a way to keep organs alive for longer amounts of time. This would mean organs can be transported from state to state The number of organ donors has risen by many ways.

The Health and Human Services Department or HHS has been working with hospitals. Their goal is to educate the hospital staff on donation issues and to report all deaths to the HHS. By doing this, the HHS can recognize a donor and get the person’s organs to the patient in critical need. With hospital conditions revised, the HHS believes that organ donation will rise.

Besides the revision of the hospital, people can help make the number of donors rise. People can persuade friends and family to donate and word is spread around. If you want to be a donor tell your family. Most families say that if they had known their loved one wanted to be a donor it would have had more influence on their decision.

Ryan Stoy was a young man who knew what it was like to be on a waiting list for organs. But on July 4, he received an important phone call from his mother. She told him to head for the airport where a private jet awaited to take him to Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center for his heart and a new set of lungs. Life for Ryan was slow and painful. He was born with a congenital heart disease and a pulmonary condition that was weakening his lungs. At school, it took everything he had to just walk from one classroom to the other.

When Ryan went into surgery, doctors found his heart and lungs barely functioning. They did a heart and double-lung transplant on Ryan that day which virtually saved his life. Through help with his community, the Stoy’s were able to pay off their medical bill and Ryan fully recovered. Recently, Ryan climbed 10 miles up the Appalachian trail. So as you see transplants can be very successful.

Organ donors are a vital part of the world. Without them many people would die each day. But the world still lacks enough donors. There are many ways in which you can donate. You can donate your blood, bone marrow, and other organs. You don’t have to be dying before you decide to donate. You never know how many lives you can save when you decide to become and organ donor. Most states allow you to become a donor when you renew you driver’s license. To get a free donor card call the National Kidney Foundation at 1-800-622-9010.