The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
April is National Donate Life Month (NDLM). Donate Life America and its partnering organizations established NDLM in 2023. NDLM helps raise awareness about donation, and encourages Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to honor those that have saved lives through the gift of donation.
The need for organ donation is great. More than 100,000 people are awaiting lifesaving organ transplants. In 2022, more than 42,000 organ transplants from 21,300 donors brought new life to patients and their families. In addition, more than 85,600 corneal transplants help restore sight, and more than 2.5 million tissue transplants heal each year. Organ donation is also significantly needed in the pediatric population. More than 1,900 children under the age of 18 are on the national transplant waiting list. In 2022, more than 1,700 children were saved by the generosity of donors and donor families.
Did you know that one donor can save up to eight lives, restore sight to two people through cornea donation, and heal more than 75 lives through tissue donation? Are you registered as a donor? If not, and you would like to, here are somethings you can do:
1. Register your decision to be a donor at RegisterMe.org
2. Agree to be a donor when you get your driver's license, or renew your driver's license.
3. Tell your family and friends about your decision to Donate Life.
CHI St. Alexius Health is required to call the Organ donation service center with any deaths that occur in our facility. Once the Organ donation service center is notified, they begin the donation process by gathering some demographic and medical information from the hospital.
With the information provided, the center utilizes a national system to match available organs from the donor with people on the waiting list based on donor blood type, body size, how sick they are, donor distance, tissue type and time on the waiting list. If the team identifies a person is eligible to donate, the family of the donor is contacted to facilitate the donation process.
CHI St. Alexius Health is here to assist if you have any questions or concerns regarding organ, eye or tissue donation. You can also visit donatelife.net for more information. Information for this article was populated from the Donate Life website.
