Organ Donor Day

What the day is

Organ Donor Day is observed on February 14. In the United States the observance covers organ, tissue, blood, platelet and marrow donation together, and there are a few things about how the system works that materially change the outcome.

Origin and background

The most important is that registering is often not the end of it. In many countries, including those operating opt-out or presumed consent, clinicians still approach the family before proceeding, and a family that does not know what their relative wanted, or is shocked into refusing, can stop a donation from a registered donor. Families who have been told clearly are far more likely to support it. The conversation costs nothing and does more than the registration alone.

Two widespread beliefs deter people and are false. The first is that registering makes doctors less likely to save you: the team treating you is separate from the transplant team, which is not contacted until death has been determined by criteria unrelated to donation. The second is an assumed age limit. There is effectively no upper cutoff, since suitability is assessed organ by organ at the time, and organs have been transplanted successfully from donors in their eighties and nineties.

Blood runs on a different constraint: it expires. Red cells last around six weeks refrigerated and platelets only five to seven days, so supply cannot be stockpiled against future need. Shortages are usually timing failures rather than failures of willingness, which is why appeals after a widely reported disaster ask people to book appointments in the following weeks. Blood used in an emergency was donated before it happened. Group O negative can be given to almost anyone, so demand for it outruns its share of the population.

Eligibility rules have changed substantially, with several countries replacing blanket deferrals based on sexual orientation with individual risk assessment applied to everyone. Anyone turned away years ago may well be eligible now.

How to take part

• Register, which takes a couple of minutes online in most countries.
• Tell your family explicitly. This is the step that decides whether it happens.
• Book a blood donation rather than intending to go. The intention is where it fails.
• Check your current eligibility if you were deferred under older rules.
• Join the stem cell registry, which is usually a cheek swab to sign up.