Organ Donation Saves Lives and Can Help Families Deal with Grief

End-of-life issues can be difficult to discuss, especially when you are young and healthy. Signing up for the national organ donor registry is an easy way to make your wishes known.

“It is important to talk about organ donation and end-of-life wishes with loved ones so your family understands what you want if you are unable to speak and make decisions for yourself,” says Terri Long, RN, director of Critical Care and Cardiology Services. You can join the national organ donor registry online or choose the option on your driver’s license. A living will or advance directive is another way to communicate your intentions. Everyone is a potential organ donor — regardless of age, race, or medical history. Your medical condition when you pass away determines which tissues and organs you can donate.

A Choice to Save Others

In our region, the Gift of Life Donor Program oversees the delicate process that allows us to gift our organs. They verify donor registration and approach families about the possibility of organ donation.

“Even as families endure the loss of a loved one, they recognize and often take comfort in the fact that something good can come out of the worst thing that can ever happen,” says Maggie Ainslie, director of Pastoral Care at Doylestown Health. One organ donor can save up to eight lives. A tissue donor can help improve the quality of life of 100 others, according to Gift of Life.

“When someone on the organ waiting list receives the call, they know that someone is dying and their family is grieving. It is a poignant and delicate situation,” says Maggie. The following statistics from Gift of Life illustrate the need for organ donation education and registration:

• More than 100,000 men, women, and children are on the waiting list for a life-saving organ transplant
• Every day, 17 people die waiting for an organ
• Every 10 minutes, another person joins the waiting list

The Lead Up to the Donation

Most organ donor patients are very ill, so they tend to be in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). 

“The lead up to the donation is very intense,” says Bobbie Kim, RN, clinical manager of Doylestown Hospital’s ICU, Intermediate Unit, and Neurology Services. Organ donation is only permitted after all efforts to save the person’s life have been exhausted. Tests are done to confirm that there is no brain or brainstem activity. 

“If a donor patient is declared brain dead, the process can begin,” explains Bobbie. "If the patient has no hope for neurologic recovery, but is not brain dead, there is an option called Donation After Cardiac Death (DCD). With DCD, the patient is taken off of life support and, if they naturally expire within 90 minutes, the donation process can commence. If they do not expire within that timeframe then they are determined to be unsuitable for donation.” 
 
“The donor patient receives one-to-one nursing care throughout the process,” explains Bobbie. In addition to caring for the donor, the team follows protocols to ensure the donated organs are as healthy as possible for the sake of people deeply in need.

A nationwide program links potential organ donors to people waiting for lifesaving transplants, according to Bobbie. The decision is based on criteria such as blood type, body size, medical condition, donor location, tissue type, and how long the person has been waiting.

Support for Loved Ones

Our Pastoral Care team routinely visits patients and families throughout the hospital, including the ICU. “We believe people are connected emotionally, physically, and spiritually,” says Maggie. “In the hospital, while everyone else handles the physical part, we get to help with emotional and spiritual support. We are a holistic department that responds to whatever people are asking for outside of the medical realm.”

The Honor Walk

When all of the arrangements are in place, it is time to transfer the donor patient to the operating room where organs will be harvested. 

At Doylestown Hospital, a donor’s loved ones may choose to participate in an honor walk. “The honor walk can be an important part of the grieving process,” says Maggie. “It is a way to honor the donor and recognize the significance of this selfless choice that will change the lives of others,” she adds.

The hospital staff line the walls and the family walks behind the stretcher during as the team takes the donor patient to the operating room where a team of surgeons will harvest the organs. “The honor walk is impactful and very emotional and underscores just how precious the whole system is — from the donation to the organ recipient,” says Maggie. 

More About Organ Donation

If circumstances do not allow for organs to be donated, tissue donation is often possible. And, not all donated organs, eyes, and tissues are usable for transplant. With permission, those donations can support medical research and education. Organs and tissues that can be transplanted include the following:

Organs

• Heart
• Kidneys
• Liver
• Lungs
• Pancreas
• Intestines

Tissues

• Eyes/corneas
• Heart valves
• Bone and associated tissue
• Skin
• Veins and arteries
• Nerves
  
  Sign Up to Save Lives: Be an Organ Donor
  
  

Related Event

Learn more about an Advance Healthcare Directives, at our class on April 18. Registration required.

Further Reading

For more information on organ donation, visit Gift of Life Donor Program.

Gift of Life is a non-profit, federally designated organ procurement organization that works with 126 acute-care hospitals and 13 transplant centers to serve 11.3 million people in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware.