Organ donors

mattDL

While watching Six-1 news this evening I saw a piece on carrying an organ donor card and generally raising awareness of the situation. I had intended to get a card years ago but never got around to it.

Anyway, at the end of the piece the reporter gave out a number to text the word DONOR in order to get a card.....so I did. 10 minutes later I got a text back thanking me for ordering the card and a promise that it would be posted to me within days.

Within the space of 5 minutes I got the same message back 15 times!! I got so fed up that I switched the mobile off. I've just switched it back on again and there are another 30 of the same messages!!!

I hope it's not a scam but I'm wondering how they wll know my name and address as I never gave it to them.

I'll be waiting nervously for my next phone bill.

astrofool

they should have it as an opt-out system rather than opt-in

Sangre

No, they shouldn't.

Dave!

Sure they should!

Where else can I get a donor card, besides this text thing? I think I heard you can get them in the chemist, is that right?

John R

DaveMcG wrote:

Sure they should!

Where else can I get a donor card, besides this text thing? I think I heard you can get them in the chemist, is that right?

Yes, most medical facilities (hospitals, GPs, pharmacies, etc) should have them. There is also a section at the back of driving licences to permit donation.

Even if you have a donation card filled out the decision is always up to the family members of the potential donor.

Opt-out is a better scheme IMO, one of the biggest problems is the difference between the amount needing organs and the number available. People or groups unwilling to donate should be pushed to the bottom of the list for recieving organs.

Oral Slang

John R wrote:

Even if you have a donation card filled out the decision is always up to the family members of the potential donor.

Yeah thats something that really bugs me. Fair enough if you have never made your wishes clear to your family, but if you go to the trouble of getting a card and carrying it around in your wallet, then I don't think your family should be able to decide for you!

R-KEANE

mattDL wrote:

While watching Six-1 news this evening I saw a piece on carrying an organ donor card and generally raising awareness of the situation. I had intended to get a card years ago but never got around to it.

Anyway, at the end of the piece the reporter gave out a number to text the word DONOR in order to get a card.....so I did. 10 minutes later I got a text back thanking me for ordering the card and a promise that it would be posted to me within days.

Within the space of 5 minutes I got the same message back 15 times!! I got so fed up that I switched the mobile off. I've just switched it back on again and there are another 30 of the same messages!!!

I hope it's not a scam but I'm wondering how they wll know my name and address as I never gave it to them.

I'll be waiting nervously for my next phone bill.

maybe you're getting 1 text for each organ.

0utshined

Sangre wrote:

No, they shouldn't.

You're wrong. It should be an opt out scheme.

Peace

0utshined wrote:

You're wrong. It should be an opt out scheme.

Then you'd be right back into the case where childs organs were being harvested without parental permissions.

I believe in organ donation but don';t think it should be opt out. I do however think a LOT more could be done to promote organ donation and its accessibility.

0utshined

I disagree with you on that Peace.

As I understood the incident you're referencing the parents didn't give permission and also didn't know they were taken.

If it was an opt-out scheme people would know their organs would be removed when they died and used in someone who needs them. If anyone felt strongly enough about it that they didn't want that well then they could opt out before the fact.

Linoge

John R wrote:

Opt-out is a better scheme IMO, one of the biggest problems is the difference between the amount needing organs and the number available. People or groups unwilling to donate should be pushed to the bottom of the list for recieving organs.

I don't agree with opt-out, but being pushed to the bottom of a list does sound good. It would require immense organisation though. Maybe it could be linked in with registering to vote. You register to opt in or not for organ donation too. With severe lack of organ donors surely this would be worth the effort.

Dave!

John R wrote:

People or groups unwilling to donate should be pushed to the bottom of the list for recieving organs.

That's actually a brilliant idea!

Re: the box you tick on the back of your drivers' licence,

does just ticking that and signing it mean that you are a donor? Cos the way it's worded makes it seem like it's indicating that you are a donor, but doesn't actually declare "I would like to donate my organs" or anything. I think it just says "I am a multi-organ donor [ ]", like it's telling the hospital to go look for your donor card which you have.

Ya get me? Like it's in conjunction with somethin else.

I'ma get a card next time I'm in the chemist anywho

BoozyBabe

So, who all here carries an organ donor card?

I do, carry it everywhere, just in case. I've ticked to donate everything possible.

I know it's a bit morbid thinking of it, but I can't take my bits with me, so someone may as well get use out of them.

DoctorEdgeWild

I got my donor card a few years back in a hardware store of all places. I think the more places they are available in, the better. Make sure you fill them out btw, otherwise they aren't of any use.

They are a cracking idea and a great chance to turn a very bad situation into a much better one.

Archeron

I do carry one, but for reasons I cant explain, I'm very selfish about my eyes. I think the idea of them being removed is a bit unnerving. Maybe something to do with being able to see in the next life or something!! The people who need the organs are welcome to everything else though.

Sam Vimes

i'm donating my beautiful face to someone less fortunate

mountainyman

Peace wrote:

Then you'd be right back into the case where childs organs were being harvested without parental permissions.

What was so bad about that? These people had no problem expecting society to provide medical care for their kids and then when the kid is ALREADY dead they make a song and dance about a couple of kidneys?

For shame bereaved parents for shame.:p

MM

astrofool

I think the point with harvesting organs is that people may object to it on religious grounds or their own beliefs, which they are perfectly entitled to do. However, by making the system opt out, those who do have such beliefs will have to go out and enforce them (it could be a general register, a non-donor card they carry etc.), rather than the situation it is now, where a majority of people would donate, but just haven't gone to the trouble of getting a card, and as such, many people waiting for organs die every day.

The_Minister

This would make me nervous about donating

DoctorEdgeWild

^ That looks like bullsh1t to me dude, you have to be declared dead by two doctors before they even touch you afaik.

Edit: I'd trust this site a little bit more than the one with the nice cartoons - http://oasis.gov.ie/health/body_and_organ_donation.html

Brown_Eyed_Girl

mountainyman wrote:

What was so bad about that? These people had no problem expecting society to provide medical care for their kids and then when the kid is ALREADY dead they make a song and dance about a couple of kidneys?

For shame bereaved parents for shame.:p

MM

A song and dance about a couple of kidneys indeed !!!!!!!!

I paid for all my childs care privately and still they removed her brain !!!!!!

havana

Firespinner wrote:

This would make me nervous about donating

A load of rubish. The team looking after the patient in hospital are totally seperate to the organ donation team. If you are in surgery and something happens to you the doctor that is there is not the one who harvest your organs.

I am a huge believer in organ donation, having waited an year for my dad to get a new liver. I know its a very personnal choice and not for everyone. But to those who have doubts I ask you this- would you accept and organ for you or your child? If the answer is yes, can you really expect someone to do something for you that you are not prepared to do for them?

Always I think of the donor and his family and thank them so much for the gift they gave us. So please do consider it. We should so have an opt out system.

And Mountainyman- you should be ashamed of comments like that!

Brown_Eyed_Girl

I am also a huge believer in organ donation in view of the fact that my father waited over 2 years for a heart transplant before dying.

The annoying thing about the the organ retention scandal from my point of view is that when my daughter died I offered any or her organs at that time I think it would have been approprate to tell me that ......... eh well they had already helped themselves.

I think that when a person dies it is always up to their next of kin to give permission to take organs, it doesnt really matter whether or not the dead person carries an organ donor card or not. In view of the fact that upon the death of a loved one is a bad time to be asking for organ donation, what about the possibility of a central register which would automatically give permission, perhaps as part of the national identy card register.

meowCat

DaveMcG wrote:

Sure they should!

Where else can I get a donor card, besides this text thing? I think I heard you can get them in the chemist, is that right?

I got mine from my GP back in 1999. I'd guess, you can get them at any health institution.

Sangre

0utshined wrote:

You're wrong. It should be an opt out scheme.

How can I be wrong? There isn't right answer to this question. Its all subjective.
The body and its death are too sacred and private for this to be an opt in scheme.
Oops you died and we harvested his organs. But its against my religion I'm going to hell! Oh well you should have opted out! But I've been abroad for 40 years. Tough titties, now buuurn

ravenhead

Well from a personal point of view I think that organ donation should be more widely advertised & encourage, if it wasn't for someone donating their heart I wouldn't be able to have the surgery that I need soon ... i really think that if you can save a life by doing it, then do, I mean what do need them for when you're dead??? BUT a person's own wishes should be taken into account, not what the next of kin want, unless they know for certain that the person, if they didn't carry a card, REALLY didn't/did want to do it ... also not many people can donate anyway, you have to die from certain things.

Dave!

ravenhead wrote:

also not many people can donate anyway, you have to die from certain things.

Very good point. Suicide bombers, for example, can't be donors.

ravenhead

DaveMcG wrote:

Very good point. Suicide bombers, for example, can't be donors.

HEHEHE not exactly what I meant but good point!

Dave!

0utshined

Sangre wrote:

How can I be wrong? There isn't right answer to this question. Its all subjective.
The body and its death are too sacred and private for this to be an opt in scheme...

Now that's a much better response than your first one Sangre. I'm sure you mean opt out there though, or do you?

I still disagree with you and think an opt out scheme would be preferable. I thought it would have gone without saying that there would need to be rules and checks in place to ensure it operates smoothly

Alun

Brown_Eyed_Girl wrote:

I think that when a person dies it is always up to their next of kin to give permission to take organs, it doesnt really matter whether or not the dead person carries an organ donor card or not.

That is the law as it stands, but I absolutely 100% disagree with it! I mean, what's the point of a donor card at all if you allow that kind of nonsense? If I've legally indicated my wishes by means of a donor card then it's absolutely no-one else's business whatsoever. I've told all my living relatives this, and they've said at least that they'll respect this wish. I've told them that if they don't, I'll come back and haunt them afterwards To me, my physical body is nothing more than a few kilos of gristle, and after I'm dead they can do with it as they please, including 'harvesting' bits for medical research if they want. The real 'me' isn't my body, it's the memories people have of me when I was alive.

Brown_Eyed_Girl

Alun wrote:

That is the law as it stands, but I absolutely 100% disagree with it! I mean, what's the point of a donor card at all if you allow that kind of nonsense? If I've legally indicated my wishes by means of a donor card then it's absolutely no-one else's business whatsoever. I've told all my living relatives this, and they've said at least that they'll respect this wish. I've told them that if they don't, I'll come back and haunt them afterwards To me, my physical body is nothing more than a few kilos of gristle, and after I'm dead they can do with it as they please, including 'harvesting' bits for medical research if they want. The real 'me' isn't my body, it's the memories people have of me when I was alive.

Totally totally agree with you !!!!!!

Actually I've told me family exactly the same ......... happy haunting

I actually dont see the point in a donor card in this country whatsoever the way the law stands, it would appear to be a total waste of time even carrying one, except to alert the doctors as to your wishes in the event of an accident, which I suppose might just prompt them to ask your next of kin's permission

Sangre

The point of them is to give an indication to your next of kin and parents. I would imagine that most people would follow those wishes if you've specifically indicated that you want to donate. However I assume the state don't want to legally bind you to signing a card on such a serious matter for some.
Where can I get a donor card? Don't have a Driver's License.

sasal

Sangre wrote:

The point of them is to give an indication to your next of kin and parents. I would imagine that most people would follow those wishes if you've specifically indicated that you want to donate. However I assume the state don't want to legally bind you to signing a card on such a serious matter for some.
Where can I get a donor card? Don't have a Driver's License.

I got mine in the blood donor clinic on D'olier St. I've seen them at the counter in most chemists.

TomTom

I carry a card and am willing to donate all apart from my eyes. Like it was said before, there is something that freaks me out about it. Also god forbit something happens that I die young I want to look as normal as possible for my parents.

I know my eye lids would be closed but it's my wishes.

havana

It really is crucial that, even if you carry a card, that you talk to your family about your wishes. I mean really tell them that you want to be a donor, rather than a quick passing remark. Its hard enough for family at a time like that without worrying whether they are making the right decision or not.

Dave!

TomTom wrote:

I carry a card and am willing to donate all apart from my eyes. Like it was said before, there is something that freaks me out about it. Also god forbit something happens that I die young I want to look as normal as possible for my parents.

I know my eye lids would be closed but it's my wishes.

Are there actually eyeball transplants carried out? Would people not normally just be given a glass eye or somethin? I've just never heard of an eye transplant before!

Brown_Eyed_Girl

havana wrote:

It really is crucial that, even if you carry a card, that you talk to your family about your wishes. I mean really tell them that you want to be a donor, rather than a quick passing remark. Its hard enough for family at a time like that without worrying whether they are making the right decision or not.

I think that talking it over with your family is even more important than carrying a donor card, like Hav said it is difficult enough for your family at this time, so if you have discussed this with them and made your wishes perfectly clear, they will have do doubt but that they have carried out your wishes.

The donor card will just alert the doctors and remind them to ask

John R

DaveMcG wrote:

Are there actually eyeball transplants carried out?

No. The only part of the eye that is transplanted is the cornea, the clear lens on the outside of the eyeball.

StupidLikeAFox

George Best donated his corneas.

Also if ya donate your eyes you'll look real freaky at your funeral, i was at one once and the guys eyes werent fully closed, two black hollows behind his eyelids, was v weird

blu_sonic

Why not donate the eyes? i've noticed a lot of people not wanting their eyes touched

Rogueish

I have to agree with a few of the posters here. I am an organ donor or rather a potential organ donor and as far as I'm concerned they can have anything that they want but they have to leave my eyes. I thought that I was the only one with that particular freaky hang-up.

However on a more serious note, I don't always have my card on me. It is in my wallet but I don't always carry it. It's usually at home with my other bits and pieces in it. I tend to grab my bank card and go rather than carry a bulky (not from an excess of cash!!) wallet.

I have ticked the relevant boxes on my drivers licence and informed my parents, brother and my boyfriend that if anything happens I want my organs donated (but not my corneas). It's important that they know this because my card isn't always on my person.

I watched my cousin with cystic fibrosis decline to such a state that when she did get a new heart and lungs (at the time she had to travel to England for the op) that it didn't take and she died soon after. She was only fourteen.

Some deserving human should benefit from my organs rather than them rotting away in the ground.

Alun

This whole thing about actually having to carry around a tatty little bit of cardboard to show your preferences is sooo 20th century

The Dutch have had a centralized organ donation register since 1998. You fill in the forms on the website, print them off, sign them (legally they still require a physical signature) and send them off. You get a confirmation by post. You can specify a whole range of different options for various body parts that you're willing to donate, specify if they can also use organs for medical research, names and contact details of next-of-kin etc. etc. You can also update your details via the same website.

Personally I don't get the thing about excluding the eyes. They're just lumps of gristle like the rest of you, after all.

Siogfinsceal

i cant understand why anyone would not want to be a donor. When you are dead your body id of no use to you - why not let someone else benefit? What happened in those hospitals was wrong as organs were being harvested without permission for research etc rather than going directly to another child.
One of my relatives died when I was little - his heart was given to another man - ironically this man was local and knew him. The recipient of the organ lived longer than any other transplant recipient at that time. His gratitude was amazing and really made me appreciate what an organ donor can do

colmranger

Folks,

Just want to ressurect this thread in light of the sad news story on TV3 today.

A young mother is one year on a waiting list for a pair of lungs.

I also know a young man in the same situation.

Dave!

To obtain an organ donor card and information fact file, text the word 'Donor' and your name and address, along with the number of cards you require, to 53377 or email your request to donor(at)ika.ie Texts cost 15c.

Easy as pie. Do it.

Smellyirishman

Thanks Dave.

I also agree that it should be Opt-out. If people have a religious problem or hangup...opt-out.

InFront

Yeah I've got an organ donor card. To be honest I do still have a few issues over donating my organs, but ultimately, if you want to be saved with someone else's organs in case of an emergency, then it's something you need to do. Like it or not, people just need to give and take. Unless it impinges on your personal beliefs, it is unfair to refuse to donate.

Is the law absolute on saying the dead person must have willed the organ donation? I have heard through a pretty reliable source that it isn't - that might only be in the UK as it was a UK doctor who told me this.

tman

Fairly silly question here...
If I'm not capable of donating blood (lived in England in the 80s), does that mean that I also couldn't be an organ donor?

0utshined

Wow, it's been nearly a year since I posted in this thread!

My opinions are unchanged, I still think it should be compulsary with an opt-out clause. To follow up on DaveMcG's post, you can get a card in pharmacy's as well. That's where I picked up mine the last time I needed to get one. It only takes a few minutes to pick one up and let your next of kin know your wishes.

Actually if you're getting one for yourself, get one for your next of kin too and ask them to consider it.

Feral Mutant

ravenhead wrote:

also not many people can donate anyway, you have to die from certain things.

What things exactly?