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•  Promoting Donation
There are currently over 80,000 people waiting for an organ transplant in the United States. Sixteen of those people waiting die every single day. They die, not because we don’t know how to save them, but because there are not enough organs donated to save them. In addition, despite the fact that over 40,000 people receive cornea donations and another 400,000 receive donated tissue, thousands still wait for the gift of sight and improved life.

Several public opinion polls including a Gallup Poll have indicated that nearly 40% of Americans rely on healthcare professionals for their information about organ and tissue donation. You can make a difference. Do one, several, or all of the following things to help promote donation in your community:

  1. Ensure that every family who loses a loved one in your hospital is given the opportunity to donate by someone who is trained to provide the donation option.
  2. Get more educated about donation. For donation information visit the United Network for Organ Sharing website at www.unos.org. The UNOS website provides links to many other donation-related sites.
  3. Arrange to have a donation-related presentation at your church, school, or business / social membership organization meeting.
  4. Contact your local OPO for donor cards and materials to display at your office or hospital.
  5. Arrange to have an article printed in your hospital newsletter or an organization newsletter.
  6. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper supporting organ and tissue donation and encouraging family’s to talk about donation.
  7. Make sure a donor awareness booth is included in community events and health fairs.
  8. Ask your friends... Are You an Organ and Tissue Donor?Talk to them about why they should be.
  9. Add a donor awareness message, or sticker to your written communication or advertising.
  10. Encourage patients and their families to talk about Donating Life. In order for a person’s wishes to be carried out, their family must consent to donation at the time of death. If a family is unaware of their loved one’s wishes, it is often a very difficult decision to make. In fact, in a Gallup Poll, only 47% of families said they would donate the organs of a loved one if they did not know their wishes. 93% indicated that they would donate if they knew that donation was their loved one’s wish.