1. The Gift of Life

2.  What is the best gift you have ever gotten?  What is the best gift you have ever given?  Now imagine a gift you would like to give someone. What is the gift? Who would you give it to? Why?

3. Did you know there is a gift that can save lives????????

4. It is.. Organ and Tissue Donation

5.  To donate means to give away something that we don’t need or something that we can get along without. People donate things to help other people.  To transplant something means to move something from one place to another.

6.  An organ or tissue transplant is a special operation doctors do to move a donated organ or tissue from one person’s body to another person’s body.

7.  One organ and tissue donor can help improve the lives of over 50 people

8.  The demand for organs and tissues is much greater than the available supply  Currently over 110,000 people in the United States are waiting for an organ transplant  A new name is added to the waiting list every 14 minutes  Average of 16 people die every day waiting

9. What organs and tissues may be donated?

10.  What organs can be donated? Heart Kidneys Liver Lungs Pancreas Small Intestines  What else can be donated? Bone Whole Eye/Corneas Blood Heart Valves Skin Certain Veins  Live Organ Donation

11. Do you have to be completely healthy to be an organ and tissue donor? Am I too old?

12.  Even people in their 70’s can donate organs and tissues. Age is not an excuse not to register.  You do not have to be completely healthy to register as an organ and tissue donor.

13. Can organs be sold for money in the United States?

14.  Organs and tissues are generous gifts that registered organ and tissue donors choose to give to others to improve their lives.  Organs are NOT bought or sold in the United States.

15. Who decides which patients get donated organs and tissues?

16.  A national database keeps track of all people in the United States who need organ transplants People who are sickest and have been waiting the longest are at the top of the list When donated organs are available, people at the top of the list are then matched to these organs  There is not special treatment for celebrities or people who make more money, the process is based on need

17. How does someone register as an organ donor?

18.  Where Kentuckians can sign up to be organ and tissue donors http://www.donatelifeky.org/ Way to let families know donation choice Family discussions are important so that one’s personal choice about donation may be known In Kentucky, there must be parental consent if under age 18

19.  Nearly ½ of the patients waiting for transplants are minorities.  There is a shortage of registered donors who are minorities.

20.  There are many more people who need organ transplants than there are available organs. The gap is even greater among minorities.  Which organs and tissues may be donated?  Age does not limit one from registering as an organ and tissue donor.

21.  Donated organs and tissues are gifts given to help others.  A national computer matches donated organs to individuals who are the sickest and have been waiting the longest.  There is a Kentucky Donor Registry which allows people to register their wishes about donation.

22.  www.donatelifeky.org www.donatelifeky.org  www.trustforlife.org www.trustforlife.org  www.kyorgandonor.org www.kyorgandonor.org