Tag Archives: Organ Donation

26 Sep

While all of us at Donate Life California are thankful for the work the California Department of Motor Vehicles does each and every day, this week the Donate Life community is celebrating DMV Appreciation Week across the nation.

Each year, the California DMV is registering hundreds of thousands of new organ and tissue donors, making up over 95% of the donors in our registry. Without our decades-long partnership with the DMV, we’d have been unable to grow the largest registry in the country.

Saving Thousands of Lives Each Year

While a pink dot might not seem like it changes lives, the numbers are clear. Since the creation of the registry in 2006, over 43,938 individuals have received lifesaving transplants in California. There is no question that all of our recipients are sharing their DMV appreciation around the state this week.

This year over 2,700 individuals have already had their lives changed by receiving transplants. This work wouldn’t be possible without the efforts that staff around the state at our DMV put in each day.

Supporting Donate Life All Year Long

Our DMV partners are supporting organ, eye and tissue donation all year long. Their passion to share the impact of donation doesn’t go unnoticed by all of us at Donate Life California.

Whether they are supporting Donate Life on Blue & Green Day, helping to decorate the Donate Life Rose Parade Float, or signing up donors each day their passion makes all the difference. So during DMV Appreciation Week, we want to say a huge THANK YOU!

Over 40 Years of Partnership

The California DMV’s passion for supporting organ, eye and tissue donation isn’t anything new. They’ve been helping to increase donation for over four decades. It all started with the pink dot and continues today through the largest registry of organ, eye and tissue donors in the country.

With all the hard work of our DMV partners, the California Organ and Tissue Registry will reach more than 15 million registered donors before the end of 2018. This is an outstanding milestone and we can’t say thank you enough to show our DMV appreciation.

Saying Thank You During DMV Appreciation Week

This week ambassadors and staff around the state from our local OPOs sent thank you notes to their local DMV offices and you can check out a handful of them in the video below.

Check out more videos by Lifesharing here.

We hope you will join us during DMV Appreciation Week to say thank you for the work that all the staff at the California DMV do each day. Their work is saving lives around the state and country.

14 Sep

By
Ruy Laredo

in
News

Let’s Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month!

September 15^th marks the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month! This month, we celebrate the achievements of the Hispanic community throughout the United States, while also underscoring their importance to the organ donor and transplant community.

Because of the generosity of our organ and tissue donors, nearly 5,500 people received a life-saving transplant in the United States last year. People like Alfonso Garcia (pictured below), receive a second chance of life because of your decision to be an organ donor.

Alfonso was the youngest of three brothers who began to grow sick in early 2010. His doctors discovered a previously undiagnosed genetic disorder that was causing his liver to suddenly start failing, leaving him with days to live.

The miracle Alfonso needed came 24 hours later, as he was given a new liver thanks to his organ donor. As of 2016, Alfonso graduated from the University of San Francisco and has given back hundreds of hours to the organ donation community in California.

Hispanic Heritage Month Highlights the Need for Hispanic Donors

While thousands of lives like Alfonso’s were able to be saved last year, there is still a need for more donors, especially minority donors. Recipients have the greatest chance of having a successful organ transplant if their donor is the same ethnicity.

One of the biggest hurdles facing Hispanics who are on the transplant waiting list is gap between Hispanic donors and persons on the transplant waiting list. Almost 20% of persons waiting for transplants are Hispanic, while less than 14% of all donors in 2017 were Hispanic.

Myths surrounding organ and tissue donation tend to disproportionately affect minority communities, Hispanics included. Common myths include that their religion prevents them from donating (almost major religions do not oppose donation) or that being a donor would prevent you from receiving the proper care in a life or death situation.

What Can You Do to Help?

There’s no better way to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month than by signing up to be a donor! Registering as a donor is as simple as visiting our website or signing up at the DMV. Whenever you renew or apply for a new driver’s license or California identification card, remember to check mark “YES” when asked to be an organ donor.

Similarly, if you are connected to the Hispanic community, letting others knows about the gap in donors between ethnicities helps go a long way. With kidney transplants leading the way in most needed organ, Hispanics are three times more likely to suffer from end stage renal failure and diabetes. Propagating this information across social media and in your own communities goes a long way.

Finally, if you are registered to be an organ and tissue donor, we highly recommend that you let your family and loved ones know of your wishes. While it can be uncomfortable to talk about death, it is a very important conversation to have so that your loved ones know you wish to be a donor.

To register as a donor or for more information about how to get involved please visit our website or our Spanish website, www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org

30 Aug

By
Ruy Laredo

in
Frequently Asked Questions

Organ Donation and Whole-Body Donation: What’s the Difference?

One of the most common questions we get at Donate Life California is if a whole-body donation is accepted. Donate Life California is solely responsible for managing the organ and tissue donor registry for California. We can not accept a whole body donation, as dictated by the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act.

At Donate Life California, our mission is to save lives through organ and tissue donation. We only focus on recovering organs and tissues to gift to persons on the transplant waiting list. Whole body donation programs are specifically targeted for furthering positive scientific research. These programs vary in their scope and research – from developing cures to diseases to understanding additional functions of the human body – all of which are noteworthy and laudable causes, as well.

Whole-body donation, on the other hand, is a different type of program when a donor’s body is gifted to an entity (normally a research university) for research or educational purposes. In most cases, these programs keep the donor’s body and do not return it, or only do when they finish with their research.

How Does The Organ Recovery Process Work?

When one of our local organ procurement organizations receives a referral for an organ donor, the donation process begins and usually takes around 24 hours. Once the process is complete and we have recovered all of the viable organs and tissue possible, we coordinate the return of the donor’s body to a hospital, mortuary, or funeral home. The donor family can then proceed with whatever burial rites

Donate Life California cannot legally keep a body once the donation procedure has finished. We do not provide any cremation or burial services. We will arrange for any necessary transportation and cover any costs. Once we return the body to the donor family, they can proceed to with any funeral arrangements they planned.

For additional information on the donation process, click here.

Can I Be Registered for both Organ Donation and Whole-Body Donation?

A quick answer to this question: it depends on the program you signed up with. Some whole-body donor programs may have a need for a donor’s entire body for research purposes. They may request that you refrain from being an organ and/or tissue donor. Other whole-body donation programs may focus on a specific body part, organ, or tissue that may not be able to be recovered for gifting, but other organs and tissue would be recoverable to gift to those on the transplant waiting list.

If you are both an organ donor and whole-body donor, we suggest that you contact your whole-body donation program. This way, you can clarify what their program needs so that your donation wishes are respected. Whether you are a registered organ donor or a whole-body donor (or both!), you are giving yourself to a cause greater than you and we thank you for helping save lives.

To sign up as an organ and tissue donor and help save up to eight lives and affect another seventy-five, click here.