Facts about Organ Donation

• Potential donors are usually medically diagnosed as “brain dead,” a condition in which brain function is ceased, but heart and lungs continue to work with the help of life support.
• An open casket funeral is possible for organ, eye and tissue donors. The body is
• treated with care, respect and dignity throughout the entire donation process.
• NJ has a First Person Consent law.  After placing the organ donor designation on a driver’s license, we encourage people to tell their family about their decision.
• It is possible to transplant approximately 25 different organs and tissues, including
• bone and cartilage, bone marrow, corneas, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and pancreas.
• Nearly 45 percent of donations come from living donors who are in good physical
• health.
• Typical organ preservation time:
•                      Heart 4-6 hours
•                      Liver 12-24 hours
•                      Kidney 48-72 hours
•                       Lung 4-6 hours
• Every 12 minutes, a new name is added to the transplant list.
• Every day about 18 people die waiting for an organ.
• Approximately 1,000,000 tissue transplants are performed annually.
• Ninety percent of Americans say they support organ donation, but only 30 percent    know the steps to take to become a donor.

* More than 4,400 people in New Jersey alone are in need of organs.
* 35% of Gloucester County’s population are organ donors.

Additional information can be found at www.unos.org or www.donatelife.net.