If you are a resident in the state of Alabama, you can sign up to be an organ donor by filling out information at Alabama's Legacy Organ and Tissue Registry You may also indicate your wishes on your driver's license or state ID at time of renewal. Ensure that your wishes are carried out by discussing this important decision with your family.
	There are two types of organ donation: Deceased organ donation, and living organ donation. DECEASED ORGAN DONATION Deceased organ donation only occurs after brain death has been documented, and the family has agreed to organ donation. Where a patients suffers an injury to the brain, brain death can occur, and is irreversible. The medical professions will work hard to ensure that everything possible is done to save your loved ones life. Only when your loved one is declared brain dead, will organ donation be requested. Consent is generally obtained from the next of kin. The donor's wishes may also be documented in several ways, such as on a driver's license, donor registry site or a family notification card. Families can specify their wishes as to what organs can be donated, but many people can be saved from all donated organs. There is a Alabama Coalition for Organ and Tissue Donation which offers more information for residents from this state. The process of organ retrieval is organized by the Organ Procurement Organizations. In the state of Alabama, this agency is named the Alabama Organ Center . The AOC provides services for both the transplant center at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the University of South Alabama's Regional Transplant Center in Mobile, Alabama. People of all ages and medical histories should consider themselves potential organ and tissue donors. Your medical condition at your time of death will determine what organs and tissue can be donated. Your commitment to donation will NOT interfere with your medical care. The process of donation occurs as a surgical procedure, and the body id always treated with great care and respect. Organs are distributed based upon medical information such as blood type, body size, and tissue type matching through a national computer network operated by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). Tissue is distributed based upon patient need, availability and medical criteria. It is illegal to disribute organs based on non-medical information such as wealth, citizenship or celebrity status.
Kidney recipient with the parents of her deceased kidney donor.
CONSIDERING LIVING DONATION? HERE ARE THE ADVANTAGES: Better chance at immediate function of the organ, with less complications. Eliminates competition with the 68,000 candidates awaiting kidney transplantion. Over 2,500 patients are awaiting kidney transplantation here in the state of Alabama. The option for laparoscopic kidney removal, with shorter operative time and less days in the hospital. Donor operation and transplant can be planned to prevent the need for dialysis. Better long term survival of the living donor kidney, with less overall rejection. Living donation occurs with organs such as kidney, liver or lung. While less common with liver, pancreas and lung transplantation, living donation for kidney transplantation is the most frequently occuring living donor transplant. This allows many patients to avoid the long waiting lists of candidates in need of kidney transplants. For more information on living donation, please refer to the web links. LIVING DONATION Anyone over the age of 18 years can be a living donor. You must be in good medical health and meet the criteria for being a living donor. A person can donate a kidney, a lung or part of their liver, or they can also be a bone marrow donor. More information can be obtained at www.transplantliving.org/livingdonation There are many options for receiving a living donor. In the past, living donors were more often related to the recipient. Over time, non-related persons have stepped forward to be living donors, such as spouses, significant others, friend and co-workers. More recently, we have recommended that listed patients consider heavily the options for receiving a living donor organ, due to the vast number of candidates being added to the waiting list. Presently we have the option for paired donor exchange: the exchange of organs between two or more donor-recipient pairs where their is incompatibility among themselves. This allows for all involved to recieve a compatible organ. Altruistic donation occurs when a potential living donor wants to donate an organ to the next candidate in need because of purely unselfish reasons. This can be done anonomously if both parties wish to do so.
Mr. Joshua David Braswell, died on June 26th, 2003 at the age of 23 years. Joshua made his desire to be an ORGAN DONOR known to his parents. On June 27th, the right kidney was transplanted into a 34 year old male. The left kidney was transplanted into a 65 year old male. These recipients were both suffering from end-stage kidney disease. The liver was transplanted into a 45 year old male. Both lungs were transplanted into a 29 year old male. The heart was transplanted into a 51 year old male. The pancreas was transplanted into a 34 year old male. His uncle Gene stated at the funeral...."Josh's last act here on earth was to saves lives."