Johnette K. Bennage

Lewisburg

Working in an Emergency Department, you often find yourself witness to people on some of their worst days. Whether by sickness, injury, or accident, no one expects to end up in an emergency medical situation. Unfortunately, we also see scenarios that no one ever hopes to encounter, including the death of a loved one.

In those moments, while still comprehending the unthinkable, one of the most difficult decisions to consider is whether or not organ donation is something the dying person wanted or would want to have done.

Anyone can be a potential donor regardless of age, race, or medical history and one person who donates organs, tissues, and corneas can help about 100 others. In our region alone, about 5,000 people are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.

Nationally, more than 100,000 people are waiting on an organ transplant with someone added to the organ transplant list every eight minutes. Kidneys are the organ in greatest demand and can be donated by a living donor. The liver, heart, and lungs are also in high demand on the transplant need list and can only be given following a death. Thousands of individuals living among us could benefit from tissue transplants.

As Evangelical Community Hospital participates in the Donate Life Challenge in April, I hope you’ll take the time to learn more about organ donation. Instead of waiting until a decision needs to be made in the moment, now is a good time to consider whether or not you wish to be an organ donor and to discuss that decision with your family so they can follow your wishes when a medical emergency arises.

It takes less than a minute to sign up to be a donor. If you wish to join the movement to save lives through donation and provide life-enhancing tissue transplants, visit www.donors1.org to register.

Johnette K. Bennage, DNP, RN, CEN, CPEN is Director of Emergency Services at Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg.