Every 18 hours, someone in Pennsylvania dies waiting for a lifesaving organ that never comes. Here’s how the organ donation process connects transplant recipients with deceased donor organs:
- Waiting for a transplant
When someone’s organ is failing, he or she is placed on the national organ transplant waiting list. This list is very long, and not everybody survives while awaiting an organ.
- Match found
The national system finds potential matches between a donated organ and someone on the waiting list. Matches are based on blood type, body size, illness state, donor distance, tissue type and time spent on list. Factors like race, celebrity, gender, income and social status are never considered.
- Life saved
Once a match is found, the patient is contacted by their transplant team. The organ is recovered from the deceased donor with care and respect, and transported to a hospital for transplantation.
Learn more about the process in this infographic from DonateLifePA.
As a Level II Adult Trauma Center, Grand View Health is committed to supporting organ donation and the lifesaving benefits it brings.
If you’re interested in becoming an organ, eye and tissue donor, you can register today.