Hello everyone
today we are going to be demystifying organ donation after death
organ donation is the gift of life
Giving someone a second chance at life
Every year,
hundreds of Canadian lives are saved due to organ donation.
Nearly 5,000
Canadians are on the waitlist waiting for life-saving organ transplants
and 250 Canadians dies yearly waiting.
Donors can donate organs,
for example,
the heart, lungs,
kidneys,
liver,
pancreas, intestines,
and the cornea the most donated organ in Canada is
the kidney, while the least
is the intestines
But how does organ donation
really work? To become an organ donor in Canada
you must be at least sixteen years old
Be able to provide your date of birth and your
health card number.
It's actually quite rare to be eligible to donate your organs after death in Canada,
with only 1-2% of people being eligible
This is because there are only two ways that a
person can die in,
which they're able to donate their organs
The first way is if
the patient has gone through neurological
determination of death
AKA brain death. This is a state where the patient no longer has any function in the brain and will not
able to regain Consciousness or breathe
without support,
Organs that can be donated after this include the heart,
lungs, kidneys,
liver, pancreas and the intestines.
The second way,
is if a patient experiences circulatory death
Which is what happens after a patient is involved with
an accident that results in
severe brain injuries and when the heart permanently stops bleeding,
Typically, the liver, kidney, lungs
and the pancreas can be donated in this case.
If one of these two situations occur and the person
is a registered organ donor
a process follows where the family is informed. Ultimately,
the family is able to make the final decision on
behalf of the patient.
Making sure it's respect their wishes.
If approved,
the medical team will examine
which organs are eligible for donation and blood tests will
be done to ensure that the patient is still able to donate
Once this is complete
A recipient will be found through the National Transplant Waiting List
Typically organs are donated to patients within the province.
list.
but can also be done across provinces
Once a recipient is found the surgery to remove the
organ begins
immediately. This whole process of speaking to the family, doing
various tests and removing the organs can take anywhere between
24 to 36 hours.
How are the organs stored and transported?
Each organ must be for free of blood before being removed from the donor
This is done with an ice-cold preservation solution that contains
nutrients. Then the organs are individually put into sterile containers
with wet ice and transported to the transplant center.
The process of removal, storage, and transport must be done
as quickly as possible because the heart and lungs have
to be transplanted into the recipient's body,
within 4 hours of being removed from the donor.
The liver must be transplanted between 12 to 18 hours.
The kidney must be transplanted within 24 to 48 hours,
and the pancreas and the intestines within
8-12 hours
Some myths that people associate with organ transplant
which creates fear preventing them from becoming organ donor
Are that doctors will not try to save their lives
if they know they are a donor
The truth is that the staff at the hospital
Will do everything possible to save your life.
When you go for treatment,
they're focused on saving your life,
not someone elses.
Secondly,
that I'm too old to donate.
There's actually no cutoff age for donating organs however the
medical staff will evaluate your organs no matter how old you are
If you're an organ donor
and will qualify what is eligible and what is
not eligible.
And last, rich and famous people are on top of the list
This simply is not true.
There's actually no priority based on popularity or social status,
but there are many factors that are used to determine who will be the recipient.
Possible recipients will be matched based on factors including blood group. Having a compatible blood type group
is very important
For example if a recipient was type A blood
They would only be able to receive an organ from a Type A
or type O blood type donor.
They would not be able to get an organ from
a donor who is type B or AB blood
type.
Additionally, If there was a type AB blood recipient they would be able to receive transplants from any blood type donor. And a type O recipient
can only receive a transplant from a type O donor
If the transplant is done between incompatible blood types
your immune system
antibodies will actually attack these foreign antigens which can cause life-threatening
side effects. Next height and weight are also looked at
as factors.
The closer
you are to the donors height and weight the higher
up on the list you'll be.
Next size of the organ is also looked at,
for example,
if a child is a donor children on the waiting
list will be higher up than adults.
And then medical emergency, they check how long a person can survive without the
transplant and the sickest people are higher up on the list.
And then how long the person has been on the
waiting list is also looked at and the distance between
the donor and possible recipients.
The geographical distance is very important because the closer
the donor is to the recipient the higher on the list they will be
Here is a real case study in Canada where
organ donation saved multiple lives
Meet Logan Boulet, a young courageous hockey player who passed in the tragic Homboldt Broncos bus crash
in April of 2018 in Canada. He had registered to become an organ donor just weeks before this accident inspired by his previous coach.
The morning after the accident his parents were told he had irreversible brain damage and they decided to donate his organs.
He was able to save six lives with his organ donation
and inspired thousands across Canada to become organ donors.
Did you know that 90% of Canadians approve organ donation, yet only 32% of them are registered organ donors.
1 organ donor can save up to 8 lives. You can also make a difference and give
someone The Gift of Life and be a
part of the 32%
by registering to become an organ donor at this link.
If you're interested in videos
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