The number one priority for first responders and health care professionals is to save the patient’s life. They are also not a part of the organ and tissue donation process.
That doesn’t mean our first responders don’t have questions about what can potentially happen after every lifesaving effort has been exhausted. And only after that, the process of organ and tissue donation may begin.
On this page we wanted to provide a resource to our first responders to answer questions on how the organ and tissue donation conversation begins, what happens after brain death is declared, and how their work impacts the potential of donation.
What Will First Responders Do If You’re A Registered Donor?
Whenever an accident occurs the first responders will do everything in their power to save the life of the patient. Whether or not you’re a donor will not impact your treatment by first responders or any healthcare professionals. Learn about myths and facts on organ and tissue donation.
From the moment responders reach you, until you’ve been declared legally dead, your medical professionals are a team fully focused exhausting every lifesaving measure.
It is only after a patient is declared brain dead by two separate doctors that the organ and tissue donation discussion can begin. And only when consent is provided the donation evaluation and recovery processes can begin. (Learn more about what brain death means here). At this point, an entirely different healthcare team will take care of you through the donation
Information For First Responders
89% of first responders surveyed felt they would benefit from an education program on organ and tissue donation. As they are not a part of the donation process, they had the interest to learn what medical processes take place to determine if someone is eligible to become a donor, how consent to become a donor is gathered, and what the recovery process entails.
This video also tells stories of individuals who have been impacted by donation whether it is a loved one who became a donor or because they are living today because of a donor.
We hope you will enjoy this 30-minute video about the donation process.
Working Together To Save Lives
The first responders around the state of California save a countless amount of lives each year by just doing their jobs each day. They truly are some of our heroes.
We’ve also teamed up with many first responders and their organizations around the state to spread the message of organ and tissue donation to save even more lives.
Lives like Sacramento Firefighter Tad Suwa. Tad spent years on dialysis as he was waiting for a new kidney. Now he is back on the job, saving lives in the Sacramento region thanks to his donor. Learn more about Tad’s story here.
Thanks to the Sacramento Fire Department for the photo.
We hope you’ll join us in supporting the efforts of our first responders and becoming heroes yourselves by signing up as organ and tissue donors today. Or if you’re already a registered donor, share the message of why donation is so important.
