February 14: National Donor Day

February 14^th is not just for Valentine's Day - it is also National Donor Day. By sharing love for others on Valentine's Day you can also share the gift of life and become an organ donor.

For the last decade, the National Donor Day campaign has been raising awareness and encouraging Americans to make blood, marrow, organ and tissue donations. Since 1998, Saturn (http://www.saturn.com) has been participating in this campaign. Over the last 10 years, the Saturn Donor Drive has collected almost 190,000 units of blood and have added almost 12,000 potential marrow donors to the National Marrow Donor Program Registry.

Approximately 60% of Americans are eligible to donate blood, but Saturn states that only 5% do so. There are almost 100,000 people who are currently on the Transplant Waiting List.

Just the organs and tissue from one person can save many people. Just the other week on Oprah Winfrey's show the topic was organ donation. The tragic death of one man provided a heart, kidneys and pancreas to three other men. It truly is a gift you are giving.

Who Can Donate?

People of all ages can be considered for organ and tissue donation. There are some automatic exclusions from donating: HIV positive patients, active cancer patients and people with systemic infections. It is also recommended that people who have CFS should not donate their organs since the causes of the illness and the potential effects on the organs are still unknown. (Source: CFS Patients Should Not Donate Blood). All potential donors are screened appropriately when the time comes.

It doesn't matter how old you are. The condition of your organs is what is considered. Newborns to elderly people have been organ donors.

Even if you have medical issues, you still might be able to donate. You can still sign up to be an organ donor because the doctors will thoroughly check your body when the time comes to see if your illness had any effect on your organs. They will take into consideration the particular illness you had, what organs and tissues are to be donated, and your physical condition at the time of death.

Ready to Register?

First sign up at your state's Organ and Tissue Donor Registry on the Internet.

The next time your driver's license renewal is due, have the organ donor designation placed on your license.

If you do not currently have the organ donor designation on your license, you can order a free donor card from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Let your family know your wishes regarding donation and how important it is to you that they are followed if you die.

Stem Cells & Blood

Stem cells, blood and platelets can also be donated. The good news is you don't have to be dead to donate your blood! You can make a blood donation every 56 days. Platelets can be donated twice a week up to 24 times a year. You can donate platelets without donating blood as well.

If you are a healthy adult between the ages of 18 - 60, you can donate stem cells. With a stem cell donation, the donor and the receiver must have a tissue type that closely matches in order for it to be successful. These matches are usually found within the receiver's family or ethnic group.

If you just had a baby, you can donate the cord blood stem cells from the umbilical cord. The umbilical cord blood has high levels of blood stem cells and it can be stored and frozen for long periods of time.

If you are not already an organ donor, the first step is to become one. Then talk to your family and friends and tell them of the importance of organ, tissue and blood donation. A lot of people don't like to talk about organ donation because they don't like to think about death. But it is something we all know is going to happen so why not save someone else?