Here are just a few interesting facts we thought you might like to know.

• Acceptable organ donors can range in age from newborn to senior citizen.

• Donors are generally people in good health who have died suddenly, possibly through accidents or an aneurysm, and have been declared "brain dead". In this condition, brain function has permanently ceased but the heart and lungs continue to function with the use of artificial life support. This allows a continuation of oxygenated blood flow to the tissues and organs that keeps them viable for transplant.

• Organs may be procured in one location and transported for hundreds or even thousands of miles to a recipient center for transplantation. This is possible, in part, due to advances in medical technology and improved preservation techniques. Organs, by federal law, may not be imported or exported.

• Every 27 minutes someone receives an organ transplant.

• Every 18 minutes a new name is added to the national patient pool maintained by the United Network for Organ Sharing.

• With the current supply of donors, unfortunately a candidate dies every 2 hours and 24 minutes because an organ was not available for him or her.

There are 64 Organ Procurement Organizations across the country that provide procurement services to the 279 transplant centers nationwide.

Each state has "required request" legislation. Federal rules require each hospital to maintain a protocol for asking family members for permission to donate a deceased relative's organs and tissues. However this is not always done by personnel trained in this most delicate art. Therefore donations are about 25% to 33% of what they could be and should be.

An individual indicates their decision to be an organ donor by signing a Uniform Organ Donor Card or by indicating on his or her driver's license. However, the law in all three jurisdictions states that upon death, the body of the deceased becomes the property of the next of kin. Therefore, medical personnel must obtain permission from the next of kin before any organs may be donated, even when the deceased has signed a donor card. If you wish to be a donor, it is vital that you express your wish to your family so that, at time of death, your wishes will be honored.

Don’t expect your organ donation wish to be honored because you have put it in your will. Your will won’t be read in time for your organs to be donated. In fact, your donor card or driver’s license may not be looked at in time. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT, THEREFORE, THAT YOU ADVISE YOUR FAMILY YOUR DECISION on DONATION!