Fact sheet on organ donation

In the recent weeks many individuals and families have been going public or taking to social media in search of a organ donation.

Here is a fact sheet on how to become an organ donor, to what type of donations are possible and facts to know about organ donation.

Facts on organ donation:

• Organs that can be transplanted are the liver, small bowel, kidney, pancreas, heart and lung
• Over 1,500 people in Ontario are on the waiting list for an organ transplant
• One organ donor can save up to eight lives
• Less than 25 percent of eligible Ontarians have registered consent to donate
• Only one in four Ontarians have registered their consent to donate
• There were 284,942 registered Ontario organ donors in 2012
• A transplant is recommended if there is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, interstitial lung disease or primary pulmonary hypertension

How to become an organ donor:

• Register online here
• Register in person at all ServiceOntario centres
• Or register by mail by completing the Gift of Life Consent Form and mail it to:
  • ServiceOntario,
    Organ Donor Consent
    PO Box 48
    Kingston, ON, K7L 5J3
• Must be 16 years old to register
• Living kidney donors must be older than 18 and less than 70 years old
• Must be in good health without evidence of high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, kidney disease and heart disease
• Gender and race are not factors in determining if you can donate
• Must have a valid heath card
• It’s free to register
• A donor can withdraw from the assessment process at any time
• St. Michael’s Hospital, The Hospital for Sick Children and University Health Network are the designated transplant centres in Toronto

What is involved in becoming an organ donor:

• A diagnosis by your primary care physician is the first step
• Once you and your primary care physician have agreed you will move forward to a team of Transplant specialists
• Routine assessments are conducted and once the donor is cleared the recipient is placed “on-hold” while the transplant is arranged within a few weeks
• The operation lasts for 6 to 8 hours, on average
• Most donors are discharged from hospital 5 to 7 days after the operation
• OHIP only pays for the direct cost of the liver donation
• Donors who pay into Employment Insurance may be eligible for Employment Insurance Sick Benefits at the time of the donation
• PRELOD is the living donor reimbursement program aimed to minimize the costs incurred by living donors

Types of Donation:

• Related: living donors are blood relatives
• Non-related: living donors are spouses, partners, in-law relatives, close friends and co-workers
• Paired exchange: two separate but willing donors are each unable to donate to their intended recipient due to blood group incompatibility. The wiling donors are matched to each other respective recipient
• Anonymous: an anonymous donor is a person who does not know the intended recipient but donates to a person in need

Health Risks associate with being a living donor:
Living donation is major surgery. All complications of major surgery apply:

• Pain
• Bleeding
• Infection at the incision site
• Incisional hernia
• Pneumonia
• Blood clots
• Hemorrhaging
• Potential need for blood transfusions
• Side effects associated with allergic reactions to the anesthesia
• Death

DDB Argentina launched a public service announcement that has been flooding social media with over six million views since it was published to YouTube on May 20.

The video, called “The Man and the Dog,” demonstrates an emotional experience between a dog and an elderly man.

The PSA video is attached below but you may want to get some Kleenex before you press play.

To learn more about organ donation visit here or to see the frequently asked questions about liver donation visit here.