By John Messmer, M.D.
Floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and all sorts of natural disasters strike around the world. Many of us would like to help. Maybe we send money. A few go there to help in person. It’s a good feeling to help those who experience misfortune.
But there are thousands of people right here who are as desperate as those victims of natural disasters. You don’t hear much about them because they are all across the country and their plight is not due to a sudden catastrophe. They are the people who need transplants or other tissue donations. They need you.
Nationally, thousands of people are waiting for organs—hearts, kidneys, pancreas, lung, liver and intestines—and for various tissues—corneas, skin, heart valves, bone, blood vessels and connective tissues. Even if you think you are not healthy enough to donate, there could still be something useful to give – you just have to say it’s OK.
Being an organ donor does not change how your medical team cares for you, nor does it mean they will not try to keep you alive if you want them to. If you designate yourself an organ donor, when you die, you have already given permission to use whatever organs or tissues that are suitable for donation to others, sparing your next of kin the heartache of making that decision.
In Pennsylvania, you can designate yourself as an organ donor when you apply for or renew your driver’s license. To find out how to be an organ donor and to read how organ donation impacts patients, go to www.organdonor.gov/whydonate/index.html and www.donatelife.net.
Want to do something now – before you die? Be a marrow donor. Marrow, like organs, must be matched to the recipient. While there are millions of people in the bone marrow registry, there is a significant shortage of some ethnic groups, particularly Black, American Indian and Native Alaskan, Asian, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders, Hispanic and Latino and mixed races. A good match is more likely to be found among one’s own ethnic group. Go towww.marrow.org to read all about marrow donation and to sign up.
Another way to help someone now is blood donation, and you can do it every eight weeks. The need for blood is greater than any other tissue – about 38,000 donations are needed daily nationwide. Only about 1 in 14 of those eligible to donate blood actually do, so there’s plenty of opportunity for you. Just go to your local donor center. It’s quick, and they give you juice and crackers. Go to www.cpbb.org/donorinfo.html for more details.
You need not travel to the site of a flood or tsunami, or volunteer to work in a third world country to be a hero. Average Americans can be heroes to many needy people through the gift of life.
John Messmer, M.D., is an associate professor of family and community medicine at Penn State College of Medicine and a staff physician at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
