Organ Donation?
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MSDeltaFlt
RRT/NRP
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I also want to be donated as a cadavar. I learned tons from mine.
vquintessence
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Hell yes, I don't need them anymore. The fear of "they won't treat me if I'm an organ donor" is about as absurd as fear of getting a DNR for a terminally ill loved one.
If I was to become involved in a situation without chance of either surviving or being neurologically intact... there is something to say about the solace found in my body providing a better life for others.
If I was to become involved in a situation without chance of either surviving or being neurologically intact... there is something to say about the solace found in my body providing a better life for others.
Me too. There probably isn't much they can take from me organ wise, but they are free to what they can manage. After that I'm being cremated anyway, so I plan to donate my body to science. I'm trying to find out what I need to do to have my kidneys donated to PKD research specifically however. I haven't done cadaver lab but I have friends who have and they say the cadavers are treated with the utmost respect and thats extremely encouraging.
I'm also a registered marrow donor and was a regular blood/platelet donor until I developed tachycardia. :sad:
Dominion
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Cadavar donation for me.
Smash
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From a purely utilitarian point of view organ donation is an enormous waste of time and money. Recipients usually (not always, but usually) never return to any kind of meaningful employment and thus represent nothing more than a huge burden on society due to the immense cost involved in the procedure and the equally immense cost of the life-long medication regimen they must follow. We all bear that cost through insurance premiums or taxation, and the recipient contributes nothing to society on the whole.
Would I want one of my family members to recieve an organ should they need it? Of course! Just saying is all...
I'll happily donate my cadaver so the next generation can learn. And admire my tattoos.
Would I want one of my family members to recieve an organ should they need it? Of course! Just saying is all...
I'll happily donate my cadaver so the next generation can learn. And admire my tattoos.
foxfire
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yup. I will not need them after I am dead and gone. might as well let someone else get some more miles out of them. B)
Many of our organ recipients do very well. They do return to work, go to college and some of the younger ones will marry and even have children. Some of the famous actors have returned to their acting jobs after receiving an organ such as a liver.
Who has the right to put a price on someone's life although our insurance companies do try?
As well, there are many different parts of the body that can be used besides the major organs which include the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and intestine. The tissues used include bones, tendons, cornea, heart valves, veins, arms, and skin.
As well, having that organ donor card may help your loved ones through the process of removing your body from life support especially if "cardiac death" might be used rather than "brain death" as a criteria for removal.
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I'm not an organ donor, nor do I think I should/could ever be one. Given the amount of radiation and other chemicals I've been exposed to over my lifetime (especially while in the military), I would have serious concerns about the increased risk of cancer that my organs could present to the recipient.
Same for all of the above except the PKD, though it looks like I might need to come off the marrow list. Like most others here, once I'm done with my body, someone else might as well get something out of it.
Um.. wow.
Kudos.
Sorry about the marrow list. But hey, what are the chances you'd be matched anyway right.
And I completely agree with you.
dewd09
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IMO, once they see Organ Donor, they give up too soon. To each their own.
What a horrible thing to say! We do not kill patients for their organs nor to we give up.
How much do you know about the organ procurement process?
Do you know the criteria to be a candidate for organ procurement?
Do you have any idea of the number of tests a patient must go through before organs can be procured?
Have you even seen an actual organ procurement and the respect the body is treated with?
Tincanfireman
Airfield Operations
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I disagree; not once in 30+ years in this business has organ donation been mentioned until the patient has been pronounced. We certainly don't worry about it the field; working a code is time-consuming enough as it is without rummaging through wallets to look for a driver's license or donor card. As for me, since I don't need it, they can have it. (especially since my sister-in-law desperately needs a pancreas...) I'm see-sawing on cadaver donation, but that's for personal reasons that I don't want to get into in this forum.
Weird, my EMT textbook mentioned that it's very important for organ donors to be cared for just as well as non-organ donors because the organs are useless if they don't get oxygen.
Not necessarily or should I say that statement only applies to EMS.
Once there is a chance that brain death might be a possibility, a discussion is initiated with the family in the ED or ICU. The steps to determine brain death and what it will mean once that determination will mean is discussed. If the patient has an organ donation sticker or card, the family will be informed of that person's decision.
Once brain death is determined, qualification for organ procurement will take place to see what organs will be usable. This testing is extensive and can take 24 - 48 hours. In the meantime the family is allowed to visit the patient and have whatever bedside services, within reason, throughout the process. There will be chaplains and social workers or whatever service are needed to assist the family.
The patient will still be connected to a ventilator and whatever possible will be done to keep the body alive to preserve the organs. When it is time with all the surgical teams in place, the patient will be taken to the OR. A chaplain or surgeon may "given thanks" or express some type of appreciation for the organs that are being given by this person prior to any procedures starting.
For the patient who has coded in the field, ED or wherever, the process will take place from the ME or coroner's office. The major organs will not be used as they are also dead when the patient dies. Also, the resuscitation process itself can do damage to the organs.
For any pronouncement of death inside or outside of the hospital, the organ procurement center for that region is contacted and they follow up to see what tissues (see the list in my previous post) might be used.
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nomofica
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IST can really suck sometimes. I have problems with it at times, sometimes causing me shortness of breath although it's never really serious. Only time it has proven to be an issue is when I had a jagerbomb at a night club and put my tachycardia into overdrive. Although, the IV Valium I was given by the medics definitely gave me the most restful sleep of my life. :blush:
As for organ donation, I'm currently not a donor but I would like to be. I have also thought about donating my cadaver to science.
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dewd09
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Whether it offends you or not, that's my view. Non-EMS view. I came whole, I'm leaving whole. If I die because an organ fails, I die. I'm living my life, not dwelling on the last day, why deprive someone else, to extend my life for an extra year. Give it to someone who hasn't lived their life. They just can't have mine. You don't have to agree, and I don't have to agree with you either.