“There are countries in the world where it’s assumed that you’re registered to be a donor. That’s a given, everyone is a donor. Unless you state that you’re not. Here [in the U.S.] it’s assumed that you do not want to be a donor.”
A couple days ago we celebrated Thanksgiving. It’s a wonderful holiday where we spend time with people that we love and think about the things in our lives that we are grateful for. With that in mind I wanted to put out an episode that could touch on that note of gratitude, and what better episode could there be than an interview on organ donation. It is the biggest and most important gift that you can give someone! There were people this past Thursday that were sitting with their families, that would not have been sitting with their families had someone not given them the ultimate gift. Today we learn about how the process works, and what we can do to make sure we are in a position to help.
“For organ donation, only 1% of the population dies in a way that makes them eligible for donation.”
“We’ve found that there are more families who regret not donating after the trauma has passed.”
Interview Contents
2:10 - What organs and tissues are accepted for donation?
4:20 - The cap for how many organs can be donated.
5:00 - Brain death donation vs. Cardiac death donation.
6:20 - Government involvement.
7:35 - Donations from the living vs. the dead.
8:10 - Getting paid for your organs.
9:20 - Coordination of cardiac death donations.
13:45 - Talking with the families of the recently deceased about organ donation.
16:45 - Default No vs default Yes for organ donation.
18:45 - The wait list for organs.
22:20 - Working with police and highway patrol.
24:20 - Finding the potential recipients that need organs.
27:30 - Common questions and objections from families.
30:40 - Where does the money come from to do all of this?
31:30 - What makes for a good donor?
35:00 - Recipients wanting to contact their donor or the donor’s family.
36:00 - Survivor’s guilt.
39:20 - The best part of the job.
41:30 - Advice for becoming a donor.
Links
THIS EPISODE WAS MADE WITH THE SUPPORT OF
Kevin Cole
Marcus Batson
Roxanna
Michelle & Jim Wortner
Janelle Swanson
Jimmy Seymour
