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Body Donation
Whole-body donation refers to when you donate your body to science which almost everyone can do, while organ donation after death requires more specific circumstances.
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Donate Your Body to Science
Once you have registered with a local institution you can help later generations by improving medical procedures and educating future health care professionals in biomechanics, surgical training, and testing new medical tools and equipment for new surgeries to better serve their patients. It is important to note that once the deceased is picked up the family may not get the chance to say goodbye.
Average Price
The average price for donating your body is $0 however, some institutions have a transportation fee for pick up.
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Step One
Register with a program or institution of your choice then fill out the appreciate paperwork detailing your medical history. Some programs may require multiple witnesses over the age of 21 while signing the paperwork so check beforehand what the legal requirements are.
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Step Two
To ensure your wishes are met you may be given a wallet card to notify people of your intention to donate at the time of death. You must carry it at all times. You will also need to update your will or other notarized documentation to stipulate the program details of the body donation.
Step Three
It's important that you tell your family about your decision to donate your body so that the institution can be called and informed as soon as you pass away.
Step Four
Once you arrive at the institution you will be allocated to where are needed. You can help as a cadaver for biomechanics, surgical training, forensics, testing new medical tools and equipment, or testing new surgeries.
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Step Five
After your service in the program, you will most likely be cremated. While your family will not be able to hold a funeral with your body present, they can still hold a memorial service or attend a commemoration service at the facility where your body was donated.
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Become an Organ Donor
Even though millions register to become organ donors, very few pass in a way that makes them eligible to share the gift of life. Organ donation is a beautiful opportunity to live on as a gift to others that can drastically improve their lives.
Average Price
The average price for donating your body is $0 however, some institutions have a transportation fee for pick up.
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Step One
Registering as a donor at the DMV.
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Step Two
Registering as a donor at the DMV is a good start but becoming a deceased donor requires you to die in specific circumstances. To be eligible, the patient has to come to the hospital because of illness or an accident and be put on artificial support which keeps blood and oxygen flowing to the organs.
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If the patient dies despite the best efforts of the medical term, a series of test are run to determine brain death. If brain death is confirmed, time of death is recorded and organ donation becomes possible.
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Now the hospital notifies the local Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) of every patient who has died and gives them information about the deceased to confirm if they have the potential to be a donor. If the deceased is a potential candidate, an OPO representative is dispatched to the hospital.
Step Five
The OPO representative will search if the deceased is a registered organ donor in their state. If they are, the representative will serve legal consent for donation, and if not, they will contact the next of kin for authorization. If the donation is approved, a medical evaluation is performed to gather all relevant information including full medical and family history.
Step Six
If evaluation allows for donation, the OPO contacts the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) so they can input the deceased information into their nationwide database of all U.S. patients who are waiting for transplants to generate a list of matched patients for each available organ. Each available organ is offered to their best-matched patient.
Step Seven
Once the patients accept the offer, arrangements are made to schedule the transplant. Next, the transplant surgical team removes viable organs and tissue which are then transported to the hospitals of their intended recipients.
Step Eight
The patients are usually waiting at the hospital or in the operating room so the surgical team can quickly transplant the organs to the recipients.
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Step Eight
Being an organ donator does not restrict your funeral choices and you can even have an open casket funeral if so desired.
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