While February is most associated with Valentine’s Day and Heart Month, it is also a time to remember “Donor Day”, a time to draw attention to things we can all do to literally save another person’s life. Every day, thousands of Americans are suffering in need of blood, organs, eyes or other tissues, and most of us have the opportunity to help. According to Lifeline of Ohio, 20 people per day die while waiting for a needed organ. According to the Red Cross, someone needs blood or platelets every 2 seconds.
The Red Cross reports that blood donations are at a 20-year low, leaving America with an emergency blood shortage. Blood donations benefit cancer patients, trauma and burn patients, those with certain chronic diseases and people with blood disorders. Most Individuals in good health can donate blood as young as 16 years old and give up to 6 times per year. The blood donation process takes as little as 1 hour and is more streamlined than ever before, allowing donors to sign up to donate online and complete their required screening questions ahead of time with a RapidPass App on their phone.
Besides blood, people can also volunteer to donate other tissue, including skin after cosmetic surgery, bone after orthopedic replacements, cells form bone marrow, as well as umbilical cord blood or amnion after childbirth. Living donors can also donate organs, including 1 kidney (people are born with 2, but can live with 1), portions of their liver, pancreas, or intestine and a lobe of their lung. The US Health Resources and Services Administration has much information available about being a living donor including what to expect and how to register to become a living donor. Living donation has certain benefits, as the transplant can occur as a scheduled surgery under optimal circumstances, and often include an organ from a close relative, possibly reducing the risk of rejection. In addition, the donor can choose their recipient, shortening the wait time for a needed organ from a deceased person. Those who choose to be living donors do not incur medical expenses for organ or tissue removal surgery and hospitalization, as those are paid for by the recipient’s healthcare provider, but they will need to take time off work for recovery.
If you are uncomfortable with medical procedures in general, you can opt to be a designated organ/tissue donor upon death. The easiest first step, for those of us in Ohio, is to select the “yes” option to be a designated eye/organ/tissue donor at the Bureau of Moter Vehicles (BMV) when getting or renewing your driver’s license. One organ/tissue donor can save 8 lives and can contribute to the healing of 75 other individuals, which may bring a mourning family some solace amid a tragic loss, and Lifeline of Ohio is there to provide comfort to families during and after the donation process. Although you may have shared your final wishes to be an organ donor with your close family, it is also important to register, as there is a short window of time that an organ is viable after death. While organ donation is a standard question during the driver’s license renewal process, you may opt to register at any time online or by mail.
As we consider how we may give a gift of love to those around us this Valentine season, let us also consider how we can give the gift of life to someone in need.
Written by: Jennifer Little, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Ohio State University Extension, Hancock County
Reviewed by: Megan Taylor, FCS/4-H Educator, Ohio State University Extension, Union County
References:
Red Cross website. https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/how-blood-donations-help/blood-needs-blood-supply.html
Lifeline of Ohio statistic.: https://lifelineofohio.org/get-the-facts/impact-and-stats/
What to Know About Living Donor Organ Transplantation. https://www.organdonor.gov/sites/default/files/organ-donor/professional/materials/living-donation-recipient-fact-sheet-english.pdf
Red Cross News and Events. https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/press-release/2024/red-cross-declares-emergency-blood-shortage-calls-for-donations-during-national-blood-donor-month.html
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