INFORMATION AUSTRALIA’S POTENTIAL ORGAN DONOR POPULATION Not everyone can be a deceased organ donor: particular circumstances must prevail in order for a patient to be medically suitable for donation. Deceased organ donation is only possible from a sub-set of end-of-life events that occur in intensive care units or hospital emergency departments. Most of these deaths are sudden, unexpected and unpredictable. By way of example (see Figure 3), in 2016 the Australian population was 24,127,159. Of the 159,052 deaths occurring, 76,577 deaths occurred in hospitals. Of deaths in hospitals, 1,177 occurred in the specific circumstances where there was the potential for organ and tissue donation. In Australia, families of potential donors are asked to confirm the decision of their loved one. Requests to families for donation were made in 1,074 cases, with 646 consented donors (60%) proceeding to donation. The main reasons for families declining donation were that they believed their loved one did not want to donate, or they did not like the idea of organ donation. In 143 cases where family consent was given, donation did not proceed for a number of reasons, including the identification of a medical contraindication preventing organ transplantation. The resulting 503 deceased organ donors transformed the lives of 1,447 transplant recipients, enabling 1,508 organ transplant procedures where 1,687 organs were transplanted. Eye and tissue donation does not require the donor’s death to have occurred under the same limited circumstances as organ donation. It is possible to store eyes and tissue for varying periods of time, so many more people become eye and tissue donors than become organ donors after their death.
INFORMATION AUSTRALIA’S POTENTIAL ORGAN DONOR POPULATION Not everyone can be a deceased organ donor: particular circumstances must prevail in order for a patient to be medically suitable for donation. Deceased organ donation is only possible from a sub-set of end-of-life events that occur in intensive care units or hospital emergency departments. Most of these deaths are sudden, unexpected and unpredictable. By way of example (see Figure 3), in 2016 the Australian population was 24,127,159. Of the 159,052 deaths occurring, 76,577 deaths occurred in hospitals. Of deaths in hospitals, 1,177 occurred in the specific circumstances where there was the potential for organ and tissue donation. In Australia, families of potential donors are asked to confirm the decision of their loved one. Requests to families for donation were made in 1,074 cases, with 646 consented donors (60%) proceeding to donation. The main reasons for families declining donation were that they believed their loved one did not want to donate, or they did not like the idea of organ donation. In 143 cases where family consent was given, donation did not proceed for a number of reasons, including the identification of a medical contraindication preventing organ transplantation. The resulting 503 deceased organ donors transformed the lives of 1,447 transplant recipients, enabling 1,508 organ transplant procedures where 1,687 organs were transplanted. Eye and tissue donation does not require the donor’s death to have occurred under the same limited circumstances as organ donation. It is possible to store eyes and tissue for varying periods of time, so many more people become eye and tissue donors than become organ donors after their death.
OTA_AR2017_Part2.docx