Organ Donation: The Gift of Life

Imagining death is almost impossible – our minds shy away from sadness and grief, making it difficult to plan for tragedies. Educating yourself and planning for the future can make death easier to process. Providing the gift of life to others through organ donation is a decision we can make in advance, potentially transforming a period of grief into a legacy of life.

Death occurs regularly in hospitals, often with medical teams and families realizing that death is inevitable and thus jointly deciding to discontinue life-sustaining devices in a controlled manner, allowing patients to die as comfortably as possible. When families make such loving decisions, organ donation is often discussed. When a patient can provide organs for donations, families can think of their loved one’s hearts still beating with love, their lungs providing another sigh of relief, or their kidneys allowing a patient to live a full life not tied to a dialysis machine. For many, this gift gives meaning during a very difficult time. 

One path to organ donation is by donation after circulatory death (DCD). This pathway is for patients who are not brain dead but who have suffered irreversible injury. This allows organs to be recovered and transplanted, but not until their life-sustaining devices have been turned off, and the patient’s heart has stopped beating for several minutes. Before DCD became a donation possibility, we witnessed countless patients who were not brain dead and thus could not donate organs. DCD has allowed thousands of families seeking a legacy of life to donate their organs. 

When the family has made the decision to allow natural death and organ donation, we honor that incredibly selfless decision. During the time spent awaiting circulatory death, heart rates, respiratory rates and blood pressures can all fluctuate. The medical team will care for the patient and family throughout the process. This includes answering questions and explaining what the body goes when approaching death and how it is different than signs of pain, agitation or sudden improvement. Throughout, your loved one’s dignity and care will be everyone’s primary goal as we prepare for the gift of DCD.

If your family is facing these difficult decisions, please know that your medical team cares and wants to work with you to provide the best outcome for your family, even if that includes death. Organ procurement organizations, who are separate from the medical care team taking care of dying patients, will also work with you to provide an essential link between potential donors and recipients. There is no financial incentive for hospitals or doctors to pursue organ donations, and the extra time and resources used for organ donation are usually waived by the hospital or paid for by insurance companies.

If in death your loved ones can become an organ donor, we will responsibly and sensitively engage and help reach that goal of providing the gift of life.