This week’s guest speaker was Merryn Jones, a clinical nurse specialist as well a transplant coordinator at the DHB.She explained that Organ donation is only possible in a small proportion of all deaths in New Zealand. However, when donation can occur, one donor has the potential to help up to ten people through the donation of organs and tissues.
If there were more donors, many more people could benefit from life-saving transplants.
The driver's license records an indication of your wishes only, it is not an organ donor register and does not automatically mean that organs or tissues will be donated in the event of death.
Thinking now about whether someone would want to be a donor, or not, and having a conversation with family, will mean that in the event of your beloved’s death, they will know what to do.
Different organs can be used such as skin which interestingly can be stored up to 5 years.