Everyone should be an organ and tissue donor! Thousands of people die every year waiting for organ donations that never come and countless lives are saved and improved through the donation of tissue. Organs for transplant include the heart, kidney, pancreas, lungs, liver and intestines. Tissue includes bones, ligaments, tendons, corneas, heart valves and skin.<\/p>\n
Most of us won\u2019t end up\u00a0dying in a way that makes us suitable for organ donation (brain death) and younger organs are always preferable, but most people can be tissue donors at any\u00a0age or cause of death. Organ and tissue donations are recovered at the hospital and there is no cost to the family. The appearance of the donor in not affected, so viewings are still possible.\u00a0The body is\u00a0generally ready for release to the family or funeral home within the day. There is no donation\u00a0cost to the family, but you will still need to make and pay for cremation or burial.<\/p>\n
Make sure your driver\u2019s license or state ID card indicates that you are an\u00a0<\/span>organ and tissue donor<\/a>\u00a0and register with\u00a0<\/span>Donate Life<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Get a Pennsylvania Donate Life license plate<\/a>!<\/p>\n You can donate your entire body for research and training to:<\/p>\n Humanity Gifts Registry www.hgrpa.org<\/a>, non-profit, Pennsylvania Commonwealth-run.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anatomy Gifts Registry www.anatomygifts.org<\/a>, non-profit in Maryland.<\/p>\n There are also a number of for-profit companies that take donations including Science Care,\u00a0LifeQuest Anatomical, and MedCure. Donated bodies can be used for testing new medical tools\u00a0and equipment, testing car safety products, studying stages of advanced decay, testing new\u00a0surgeries, etc. There are no costs to the family. They can be more selective in who they take\u00a0and how far they\u2019re willing to travel in order to optimize profit. Read this first:\u00a0\u00a0Body Brokers<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are a number of reasons a body might not be accepted for donation so it is important that you have a back-up plan (communicable diseases like hepatitis B or C, HIV\/AIDS, TB, syphilis, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, other pandemic diseases, crushing injuries, autopsy, embalming, decomposition, morbid obesity, extensive surgery, etc.).\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Organs and Tissue Everyone should be an organ and tissue donor! Thousands of people die every year waiting for organ donations that never come and countless lives are saved and improved through the donation of tissue. Organs for transplant include the heart, kidney, pancreas, lungs, liver and intestines. Tissue includes\u2026<\/p>\nWhole Body<\/h4>\n
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