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Quick Question: Are you an Organ Donor?

Last month I asked e-newsletter subscribers, “Are you an organ donor?
How to Become an Organ Donor – find out how!
The responses I received were overwhelmingly positive. A few of the responses:
  • “Yes I am and so is my wife.  As an aside my mom donated a kidney to her sister 14 years ago!! They are both doing great!!”
  • “I am! I can’t figure out why more people aren’t…”
  • “I have been an organ donor all of my adult life.  It is marked on my drivers license. “
  • “My husband & I made the decision about 15 yrs ago to donate our bodies to the Med School.  This way we will be helping the next generation of doctors or forensic pathologists.”
  • “Yes, I am an organ donor.  Have been for the last 30 to 40 years. “
  • “Thanks for spreading the word on this so that we can get more folks to step up to the plate, so to speak.”
  • “Yes I am its on my drivers license.”
Why I asked
I asked for two reasons:
1. There has been a lot of news about a young girl in need of a lung transplant. I have read that 90-95% of Americans are in favor of and support organ donation. Yet only 30-40% of us have registered as organ donors.
2. My wife and I just finished updating our end of life planning documents. I changed my organ donation preferences from “some” to “all” in this update.
Share your organ donor status on Facebook
So have you told your family and followed your state’s procedure to indicate your willingness to be an organ donor?
If you are a willing organ donor, thanks. Encourage your friends and family to also opt into organ donation.
Stay safe.

By Greg Friese

Greg Friese, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, is an author, educator, paramedic, and marathon runner.

Greg was the co-host of the award winning EMSEduCast podcast, the only podcast by and for EMS educators. Greg has written for EMS1.com, JEMS.com, Wilderness Medical Associates, JEMS Magazine, EMSWorld.com and EMS World Magazine, and the NAEMSE Educator Newsletter.