Organ and Tissue Donation in Alberta: What You Need to Know
On Thursday, November 24, 2024, we hosted our Are You Prepared Series: Our Journey’s End, Exploring Our Options. It was a morning of hard conversations as we heard about hospice care, palliative care at home, organ donation and leaving our body to science. None of us wants to think about dying but we created our Are You Prepared series to get you thinking about things and having conversations with your loved ones.
Give Life Alberta had a fantastic presentation so we are sharing the resources for those who may not have been able to attend or who did attend and would like to review what they learned.
Two Types of Organ and Tissue Donation
- Deceased donation: Organs and/or tissues are surgically recovered from a deceased person and transplanted into a waiting recipient.
- Living donation: Certain organs and/or tissues can be surgically recovered safely from living people.
What Can Be Donated – Deceased Donor:
- Organs: lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas, small bowel
- Tissues: eyes, heart valves, skin, bone, tendons, cartilage
What Can Be Donated – Living Donor:
- Organs: one kidney, liver (lobe)
- Tissues: bone (from pre-planned orthopedic surgeries), placenta (for amniotic membrane)
Deceased Organ Donation
- A rare gift – Only 1-2% of all deaths are eligible for organ donation.
- The patient must be on life support (intubated, ventilated) and in a critical care (ICU) or emergency room setting.
- After the patient has been declared deceased; no hope of brain recovery.
- Time-sensitive.
- Limited to a few hospitals in Calgary (kidney, pancreas) and Edmonton (all organs) so it could require transport.
Deceased Tissue Donation
Most people can donate tissues!
Donation Registry- 2 ways to register your decision:
- Online through GiveLifeAlberta.ca
- At a motor vehicle registry office (heart on license!)
Some Things To Consider:
- Outdated: signing the back of your Alberta Health card.
- A medical team will check the registry, and inform your family. (BUT even if you didn’t register, your family can still consent.)
Donation Process: The Family Experience
- Donor coordinators/tissue specialists approach your family in the ICU about a donation and inform them if you are registered or not.
- The family has time to consider a donation: Would my loved one want this?
- IF the next of kin decides to proceed, consent forms, medical tests, and medical and social questionnaires are completed
- Your family can choose which eligible organs/tissues to donate/not donate.
- Family is given time to say goodbye.
Loved one is brought to operating room.
Respect for Donor Heroes
- Ceramic hearts are giving to the donor families
- There is a moment of silence in the operating room prior to the procedure
After Donation: Family Follow-Up
- Updates on recipients, anonymous letters to/from recipients
- Possible meetings
- Annual Donor Recognition Service
Myth-Busting About Organ Donations In Alberta
Myth: I’m too old or too unhealthy to donate.
Don’t count yourself out! Experts assess on an individual basis.
Myth: They won’t try to save my life if they know I agreed to donate.
Saving a patient’s life is the first priority for medical professionals, regardless of donor status.
Myth: I registered to donate, therefore I will donate if I am eligible.
Even if you registered, your family will have the final say. You can’t consent at time of death.
Share Your Decision With Your Family
- Families are approached during a dark, overwhelming time.
- Difficult decisions are easier for families if they know what their loved one wanted.
- Normalizing donation discussions: in April 2024, Give Life Alberta launched new public awareness campaign, All the Ways.
What Tissues Can Be Donated?
- Eyes
- Skin
- Heart Valves
- Bone & Tendons
- Costal Cartilage
- Fresh Osteochondral Grafts or
Whole Joints
Tissue Transplant
- Ocular Tissue – used for corneal transplants and traumatic eye injuries
- Skin Grafts – used to help severe burn victims
- Heart Valves – used for heart valve replacement and repair surgeries in pediatric patients
- Bone, Tendons, Costal Cartilage, Whole Joints – used for orthopedic and reconstructive surgeries
Quick Facts
- Many chronic conditions do not prevent donation
- Palliative patients may choose to consent to tissue donation prior to death
- Tissue donation is time-sensitive and begins within 15 to 24 hours after death
- Tissue donation does not interfere with funeral arrangements
Demand for Tissue
- Hundreds of people on the corneal transplant waitlist
- Every year corneas are purchased from the US to meet demand
- Over 5000 units of tissue are transplanted annually in Alberta
- Currently ORs are purchasing some tissues outside of AHS due to shortages
Q U E S T I O N S
Email: Gi*************@AH*.ca
