Why You Should Be an Organ Donor Chris Foster MiraCosta College Why You Should Be an Organ Donor Chris Foster INTRODUCTION I. If you had the chance to save eight lives with the click of a button, would you do it? The simple fact is, you can. II. According to the US Health Resources & Services Administration, there are nearly 107,000 people on the US transplant waiting list, including men, women, and children of all ages, races, and ethnicities. (Health Resources & Services Administration [HRSA], 2020; HRSA, 2021) One in five of those people will likely die waiting for an organ. (Nature America, Inc., 2017) III. You all can be part of the solution. Anyone, no matter your age, physical condition, or medical history can be a viable organ donor. (Donate Life America, 2021a) IV. Men, women, and children in this country are needlessly dying while waiting for transplant organs. But organ donations could save them, and the first step is registration. V. Today, I will tell you about the need for donated organs, how your registration as an organ donor can help, I will debunk a couple major organ donation myths, and together we can visualize a future where this isn’t a problem. First, let’s take a closer look at the problem. BODY I. Need Step: Too many people are dying while waiting for an organ transplant. A. Over 100,000 people are in need of an organ transplant but, based on data from 2017, less than ⅓ of people in need of a transplant will receive one each year. (Senior, 2018) 1. This is not a problem that will disappear after 3 years. In 2020 alone, over 60,000 registrations were added to the list of people in need of organs. (HRSA, 2020) When accounting for people with multiple registrations, this ends up equaling about ⅓ of the people on the list. → total people on the list is about the same. B. This problem isn’t just impacting any one group. 1. People waiting for organs span all ages. As of September of this year, there were over 1,000 kids 10 and under on the transplant list, plus another 1,000 between 11 and 17. There were also 10,000 adults between 18 and 34, and over 26,000 between 35 and 49. There were 50,000 between 50 and 64. With senior citizens, the numbers go down and there were about 28,000 people 65+. (HRSA, 2021) 2. People waiting for organs also span all ethnicities. Data from 2020 shows 40% of people waiting were caucasion, 28% African American, 21% Hispanic, 8% Asian, and 3% “other,” including Native American and Pacific Islander. (HRSA, 2021) Now that we have seen the need for organ donation, let’s take a look at the solution 1 Why You Should Be an Organ Donor II. Chris Foster Satisfaction Step: The solution is simple: register to be an organ donor upon death. A. Go to donatelifecalifornia.org and click “Sign Up.” 1. You can also register when applying for or renewing your driver’s license just by checking the appropriate box. 2. Organ donation works. In 2020, over 18,000 people donated organs to almost 38,000 recipients. Of the donors, about 13,000 donated upon death, meaning they provided the gift of life without experiencing any personal sacrifice in their own life. 3. 38,000 transplants is great, but more, from more donors, would be better. B. Some of you may have hesitation, thinking doctors will let you die so they can take your organs, or maybe you aren’t comfortable donating all or certain of your organs. These concerns should not hold you back. 1. When registering at donatelifecalifornia.org, you can specify the organs or tissues you do not want donated, or set limits to your donation such as for research or limiting the use of your organs to the United States. 2. With respect to treatment, according to the Mayo Clinic and numerous other sources, a doctor’s focus is on saving your life, not someone else’s. Also, that doctor will have a specialty in treating your condition; it will not be a transplant doctor looking for an organ for someone else. (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2021) The transplant team would be a completely different group and wouldn’t even be notified of a potential donor until after that person’s death. (Donate Life California, 2021) [“The doctors who work to save the patient’s life are not the same doctors involved in the recovery and transplantation of donated organs”].) C. Becoming an organ donor allows you to give the gift of life at a cost to you of maybe 30 seconds of your time. 1. Organ donation truly helps. A single person donating their organs can save up to 8 lives. That person can provide sight to two people. Through other, non-vital tissues, that person can improve the lives of as many as 75 other people. Altogether, that is 85 people that can benefit from a single person’s donation. (Donate Life America, 2021b) 2. However, even with the tremendous impact a single person can have, doctors still need a large number of willing donors to draw from because it can be difficult to find a tissue match where, even with medication, the recipient’s immune system won’t reject the organ as foreign. 3. So, the more people who register as donors, the more likely it is that when your friend, your family member, or you need an organ donation to survive, there will be an available match. Transition: We have examined the problem of people needing organ transplants and the solution of registering as an organ donor, let’s look to the future 2 Why You Should Be an Organ Donor Chris Foster Visualization Step: Let’s imagine a good future, one in which there is near universal organ donor registration. III. A. In this good future, there are still tragedies. Imagine yourself as a young father or mother with a young child. But imagine you find out your child is afflicted with a heart disease, say cardiomyopathy, that is caused by genetics or inadvertent exposure to a toxin. (Children’s Health, 2021). Such a condition requires a donated organ for survival, and that organ must come from a donor who will be deceased without it. 1. So, imagine that at the same time your child is in the hospital struggling to survive without a donated heart, there is a tragic accident. The details of the accident aren’t important, except that there are multiple casualties - otherwise healthy people. 2. Today, I don’t know what would happen. But, in this good future with universal donor registration, something good could come out of that tragedy. In this good future, not only is one of the casualties a match for your child’s heart, but that person is an organ donor. In this future, your child can receive the organ she needs, and will live. Transition: Now I will ask you to be part of the solution to create that good future we just imagined. IV. Action Step: To create that future, I am asking you to register on donatelifecalifornia.org, right now, as an organ donor. It is so easy and fast that I challenge you to do it before this speech is even over. A. The steps are easy. 1. Pull out your phone or pull up a new tab. 2. Go to donatelifecalifornia.org. 3. Click the “Sign Up” option in the upper right 4. Enter your information and accept the terms B. Those are the steps. If you accepted my challenge, you may be halfway done with registering already. It is that easy. Transition Statement: After seeing the problem and solution, hopefully you are on your way to being a registered organ donor. Conclusion I. Today I told you about the ongoing need for organ donors and how a single organ donor can save up to eight lives and improve dozens more. II. This fact is why I have asked you to go to donatelifecalifornia.org and sign up to register as an organ donor today. III. By going to donatelifecalifornia.org and clicking a few buttons, you can be part of the solution of organ donation and potentially provide a lifesaving gift to one or several people 3 Why You Should Be an Organ Donor Chris Foster when you one day pass away. It is surely what you would want others to have done if you found yourself or a loved one on the transplant list. IV. Did anyone accept my challenge, and complete registration during this speech? Leave your comments below if you tried! 4 Why You Should Be an Organ Donor Chris Foster References Children’s Health. (2021). Pediatric Cardiomyopathy. https://www.childrens.com/specialtiesservices/conditions/cardiomyopathy Donate Life America. (2021a). Frequently Asked Questions. https://www.donatelife.net/faq/#community Donate Life America. (2021b). Organ, Eye and Tissue Donation Statistics. https://www.donatelife.net/statistics/ Donate Life California. (2021). Organ Donation Myths Debunked. https://donatelifecalifornia.org/education/faqs/myths-debunked/ Health Resources & Services Administration. (2021, October). Detailed Description of Data. https://www.organdonor.gov/learn/organ-donation-statistics/detailed-description#fig3 Health Resources & Services Administration. (2020, December 31). Organ Donation and Transplantation. https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-systems/organ-donation Mayo Clinic Staff. (2021, May 15). Organ Donation: Don’t Let These Myths Confuse You. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/organ-donation/art20047529 Nature America, Inc. (2017). Buying Time for Transplants. Nature Biotechnology, 35(9), 801. Senior, Melanie. (2018). Beating the Organ Clock. Nature Biotechnology, 36(6), 488-492. 5
