Re: Organ donors, where are you?

Organ donation depends entirely on your own personal belief in the afterlife and how confident you are that you're right.

As for CPR, IIRC, it takes regular classes to stay current. People just have too many things going on to stop and take the time for something that might happen.

What percentage of homes have a fire extinguisher? Kitchen fires happen. I think it's about $10-15 at a local bigbox. I would not expect the percentage of CPR trained people to be any higher then the percentage that have fire extinguishers in the home.

Re: Organ donors, where are you?

There's very little to proper CPR. I learned it in a flash, and now they say the mouth to mouth part isn't even totally neccessary, just good and rhythmic chest compressions to keep the blood flowing so the brain doesn't die.

What does religion have to do with anything on this?

Re: Organ donors, where are you?

Some people may believe that they need their organs in their next life. Or perhaps they'll have problems being resurrected if they aren't whole.

Re: Organ donors, where are you?

It seems kinda of silly to chastise the living. There's nothing anyone reading this thread could have done to save those 16 lives. I would think berating the living would be counter-productive to your cause.

I am trained in CPR, and have been certified several times, but it has been quite a few years since I've had a valid card; as Gecko Geek points out, I wouldn't be among the 5% but that doesn't mean I couldn't or wouldn't get right to it when called upon.

At the moment, I am not an organ donor, 'though my family is aware of my wishes (I should probably do something about that, legally). If there is even the smallest chance that I might recover, I want that chance. I love life and am not willing to let go without a fight, and mock me for believing in miracles if you will, but I do believe in miracles. The only thing stopping me from putting ORGAN DONOR on my driver's license is not being convinced that my organs won't be taken from me before I'm through with them. How and where can I get that assurance? Will my next of kin be allowed to give the green (or red) light, or will someone else be making that decision? These are questions I need answered before I'll sign my name to anything.

Re: Organ donors, where are you?

My dad told me, what I consider to be, his wonderfully romantic, after death wish...that is, between he and my mom, whoever died first would be cremated and I would keep the ashes. The next to die would also be cremated. I was instructed to mix their ashes together and scatter half in the ocean off of our home town and the other half in the ocean off of Maui. How beautiful, I thought, and was about to ask about organ donation, when my mother exploded into tears, screaming..."No. No. It's too final." She went on and on and on. We were in a restaurant at the time!!!

The incident was so bizarre that I chose to never discuss organ donation with them. Instead, when the time came, I would just give my permission for whatever it might be worth. Fortunately they lived long lives and by the time "the time" came for both, their organs had pretty much shut down so the subject became a moot point.

After that incident I renewed my driver's license to include organ donation. I've also willed my ol' bod to the UH. Heck, if any good can come from the use of it...why not!!!

Re: Organ donors, where are you?

Here's another aspect to that well-intentioned drill-sergeant attitude.

I used to donate blood nearly every eight weeks from 1978 (my first year of eligibility) until late 1997. I was up there in the gallons. I wanted a 25-year donor pin.

Then I was abruptly "indefinitely deferred" by all blood-donor agencies because 10 years after the fact they determined that I've spent too much time in countries with new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. I may never be able to donate blood again. And I wonder if there's any danger to the others who have already "benefited" from my earlier donations.

So when you're tempted to cajole people into donating with words like "no aloha" and "thoughtless", consider that there are those who would like to donate but cannot. Hawaii has one of the nation's highest rates of hepatitis, too, and I bet that's another donation issue.

Apparently organ donors, cornea banks, & UH aren't as worried about vCJD. Despite our full disclosure (perhaps because of it), spouse and I are signed up for all of them. But I don't have a good answer to over-eager harvesting teams, other than to hope that I've thoroughly used up everything before they come sniffing around. Lots of medical suspense/terror novels on that theme.

Not enough CPR instructors, either. It's just too darn difficult to get a class and to keep current.

I wonder if the "no breathing" policy is based on sound medical evidence, or if the Red Cross just caved in to evade concerns about transmission of infectious bodily fluids. When my military instructors went to EMT training a decade ago they were given special "no contact" masks to use to administer resuscitative breathing.

At my final duty station, the submarine training center on Ford Island, we ran a firefighting trainer. One of our demonstrations involved lighting a panful of "oil" (diesel fuel) on a "stove" and then using a CO2 extinguisher. Of course the students/extinguisher spewed grease everywhere and usually made the situation an order of magnitude worse than the original casualty. Same with the powder (PKP) only much messier.

Then we'd start over with a new fire but no extinguishers. An instructor would grab a pot lid with a dishtowel and slap it down over the pan. End of demonstration.

I've done the same demo at home with our kid (lighter fluid on the lanai BBQ) with the same results. I see no reason to have a fire extinguisher in a home if improper technique/adrenaline/panic is going to cause more harm than good. It just gives a false sense of security. Our kid is certainly more cautious in the kitchen knowing that she can't just stand clear and blast away at flames.

Re: Organ donors, where are you?

I agree that it would be a good thing for people to donate organs after death and to make their wishes regarding organ donations known by driver's license, advance health-care directive and talking to their family and close friends. However, Hawaii has a high rate of heart and/or kidney disease. Part of the low rate of organ donations may have something to do with a high(er) rate of people with organs that cannot be transplanted. I've heard a number of people decline to indicate that they wish to be organ donors because they are convinced that they have no organs that anyone would want for any purpose. and Gecko Geek is right about the religious aspect as well.

Re: Organ donors, where are you?


scriv--and the rest of you HTers who have not already done so--please get an advanced directive done. an advanced directive (also known as a living will) is a legal document in which you declare before witnesses or a notary public what actions you want taken should you be mentally and physically unable to make your desires known. for example, if you become brain dead and doctors say that it's highly unlikely that you will recover consciousness, would you want your life prolonged? whom of your family/friends do you designate as your healthcare decision maker should you not be able to voice your desires?would you want nutrition to keep you alive? would you want pain medication? do you want your organs to be made available for donation? which ones?

i believe there are free advanced directives available online. if i can download one from work and post it here on tuesday, i will do so.

it's highly unlikely that your organs would be taken from you, as you say, before you're done with them. hospitals are already highly regulated; transplantation is even more closely scrutinized. unless you designate yourself as DNR (do not resuscitate), hospital staff are required to do their absolute best to keep you alive and save your life. additionally, no one could harvest your organs without your next of kin giving permission once you die. trust me, organ procurement in the united states is very closely watched.

as for the lack of donors or available organs and what factors there might be for that: yes, religion is a factor. many believe in the sanctity of the body and would not consider organ donorship. yes, there are those who want to donate but would not be suitable (alcoholism, certain diseases, drug use would disqualify certain of your organs for being viable). also, there are many factors that come in to play when determining whether an organ can be matched with a recipient (histocompatibility). lastly, just because a kidney becomes available that matches a potential recipient, does not mean that recipient can get that organ because of how long the organ is viable after it's removed from the donor and far away the recipient is.

some links where you can learn more:

united network for organ sharing (UNOS): the national organization that oversees all transplantation in the united states.

donate life america: an organization that works to educate the public about organ donorship

Re: Organ donors, where are you?

There's a tough balancing act: Saving the lives of 16 people who need organs. And possibly prematurely ending the lives of 16 people when gathering organs.

With Obama opening up the possibility of resuming stem cell research, this need to harvest organs might be reduced once we're able to repair or replace organs -- or components of organs -- with someone's own tissue.

As for me, I have "organ donor" on my driver's license. I don't know what good that will be since I only have a guitar in the closet.

Re: Organ donors, where are you?

this comment, along with scriv's earlier one, worries me. is the following scenario something some of you are concerned about? that you're, for whatever reason, in the emergency room with injuries so critical, it would take heroic efforts to save you. in another part of the hospital, there is a patient who will die in the next several days unless he gets a liver transplant. your emergency docs hesitate to give you the care you need in order to have a chance at living because they believe your liver is a perfect match for the other patient. while they don't exactly refuse to resuscitate you or whatever it is they need to do to save you, they linger so long at it that you die, thereby making your organs available for the other patient.

is this really something some of you worry about?

Re: Organ donors, where are you?

"Aloha"? Are you showing "aloha" by chastising others for not following your belief about the appropriateness of being an organ donor? Being a donor is a very personal decision, and those who choose not to donate can hardly be labeled as being "ourtrageous" or not showing "aloha".

Re: Organ donors, where are you?

An article I read (don't remember where) says evidence points to the chest-compressions alone being just as effective (not more or less, I believe) as with the included breaths.

Yes, I've heard a lot of this before, and I'm inclined to believe it, but part of me is still not sure, and I can't make a decision like this without some amount of sureness. You say "trust me," but as much as I love and respect you, why should I if you don't give me a reason to, such as credentials or...something? I'm not trusting a nameless, faceless person I met on the Internet with a thing like this.

It may sound irrational or the result of watching too much television, but yes, this is part of it. I refuse to be PC about this; it's too easy to sign a name on a piece of paper and to have my driver's license stamped without knowing what's really going to happen. I'm not afraid to admit that I'm afraid of dying before my time. Can you assure me that I won't? I'll take a look at those links, later, but for now I won't be goaded by the likes of Ron Whitfield into signing away something this important just because someone accuses me of having "no aloha."

Re: Organ donors, where are you?

hubby and I are registered organ donors. Eldest daughter opted not to. We had talked about it when she got her driver's license and the thought heebs her out. I bring it up every once in a while, hoping to change her mind. She reacts as if I am trying to kill her.

Hubby and I also want to be cremated and fed to the fishes, be composted, recycled. Same daughter swears that she won't let that happen. I have snapped many times saying she is to abide by our wishes. She says when we are dead, we are dead and cannot argue; she intends to box us up in the ground.

It's a stumper for me, to be sure. Hopefully she will mature some by the time we need to act on these decisions.

Re: Organ donors, where are you?

Good suggestion. One thing I would add is that very careful thought be given to who you give durable power of attorney to. Of course it should be someone you closely trust. But don't just designate your spouse and leave it at that, as some folks thoughtlessly do. Why? Imagine if you are badly injured in a car wreck and your spouse is incapacitated/killed. Who will be there to carry out your will then? That's why it would be a good idea to also designate a backup decision-maker who is not likely to be traveling with you.