ORGAN DONATION

People with a poorly or non-functioning organ can sometimes be helped with an organ transplant. Organ donation is required for an organ transplant. What exactly is organ donation? And how does it work?

With organ donation, someone gives an organ to a person whose organ does not work (properly).
We call someone who donates an organ an organ donor. The donor is always deceased, unless someone donates an organ while alive. This is only possible if you donate a kidney or part of your liver.

Organ donation is only possible if someone dies in hospital. This is because organs need oxygen-rich blood to remain suitable for transplantation. In the hospital, someone who has died can be ventilated by a machine. This keeps enough oxygen going to the organs.

Organ donation happens when the organ donor has died. For this to occur, death must first be established. This can be done in two ways:

- The patient is declared brain dead;
- The arrest of the heart or circulation is determined.

Family and relatives of the organ donor are supported throughout the process by the organ donation coordinator (ODC). The organ donation coordinator contacts the relatives after six weeks and tells them which organs have been successfully transplanted. This only happens if the family wants it.

Relatives also hear how the people who received the organs are doing. This always happens anonymously. The donor's relatives do not know who the organs will go to. This remains secret. In addition, people who receive an organ do not know from whom they received it.

Source: www.transplantatiestichting.nl