Here is something to think about: Would you donate a part of yourself to help someone else live? That is the central question of organ donation. Choosing to offer your organs to be used for transplant upon your passing is an important question to consider, and worthy of a decision.
Most people have thought about organ donation and some have acted to volunteer to be donors. In B.C. we have an opt-in system, whereby a person, or their family, must choose to become a donor when the time comes. This is in contrast to an opt-out system, also called presumed consent, in which every person at time of death is considered for organ donation unless they have specifically stated they are against doing so.
At first blush, this sounds like a good idea for increasing donation rates, but there are reasons why it is not used in British Columbia. It turns out that there is little solid evidence to support that presumed consent increases the rate of donations. In many jurisdictions, the policy is not enforced, so the family of the deceased still has to make the decision. Instead, B.C. has increased donation rates by building awareness and educating families and medical staff.
Whatever the model, the wait list for an organ transplant far outweighs the number of organs available for transplant. At this writing, there are 612 people in B.C. awaiting a transplant, and about 4,500 across Canada.
The first organ transplant performed in B.C. (a kidney) occurred in 1968 at Vancouver General Hospital. Since then, almost 7,000 transplants have been performed here. Today, all transplant surgeries in B.C. take place at one of the three transplant centres: BC Children’s Hospital, St. Paul’s Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital.
Organ donation in B.C. is managed by BC Transplant (www.transplant.bc.ca), which provides oversight for all aspects of organ donation and transplantation across the province. The most commonly transplanted organs are kidneys, liver, heart, pancreas, lungs and small intestine. Transplants can be whole organs, or segments (nodes), as in the liver or lung.
Organ donation need not be from a deceased person. Living donors can donate a kidney, a lobe of a lung, a lobe of the liver (which will grow back to normal size over time in both the donor’s and recipient’s bodies), a section of intestine or a part of the pancreas. Other donations include bone marrow, umbilical cord blood and peripheral blood stem cells.
Living donors can donate to a specific individual such as a family member, friend or a person you know needs an organ. Or they can donate to someone in need by donating to the provincial organ donor organization.
There are few acts more selfless than providing the means of life to another person. Think about it, make a decision, and visit the BC Transplant website (www.transplant.bc.ca) to register.
