Many wait despite number of willing organ donors

TACOMA – About half of Washington residents are willing organ donors, but on any given day, more than 1,200 patients in the region are on a waiting list and many will die waiting for a match.

About 3.1 million Washington residents have agreed to donate their organs at the time of death, but only a tiny percentage, perhaps 1 percent, will be suitable candidates for harvesting hearts, lungs, kidneys and other organs.

That means that despite the high number of potential donors, the Northwest region still has a sizable waiting list, said Jill Steinhaus, executive director of Living Legacy Foundation. The group coordinates organ donations for 190 hospitals in Washington, Montana, Alaska and northern Idaho.

Nationally, there are 90,000 people on the waiting list at any given time.

The foundation – the federally designated organization serving the region – maintains an organ donor registry with help from the state Department of Licensing.

Prospective donors have a tiny red heart on their driver’s license. That alerts emergency medical personnel if a patient with potentially fatal injuries comes into a participating hospital.

Eligible donors must be brain dead, but ventilators keep circulation going so the organs are not damaged. Each donor has the potential to aid eight others: a heart, two lungs, two kidneys, a liver, a pancreas and intestines.

Organ transplants in the Northwest are done at the University of Washington Medical Center, Swedish Medical Center, Virginia Mason Medical Center, and Children’s Hospital, all in Seattle, and at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

Organs can be harvested from patients at other hospitals.

Half of those on the waiting list will die before they receive a transplant, Steinhaus told the News Tribune. The other half either will receive a transplant or continue with interim treatment, such as kidney dialysis.

The foundation provides public education about organ donation, financed through private fundraising and from voluntary contributions from drivers when they renew their vehicle registrations. Motorists can donate $1 or more.

Brad Benfield, spokesman for the Department of Licensing, said drivers have given $388,740 to the account since it was created on Jan. 1, 2004.

Anyone 16 or older can be an organ donor, although 16- and 17-year-olds must have parental permission.

Last year, there were 553 organ transplants in Washington, Montana, Alaska and northern Idaho, and more than 28,000 nationally. Organs came from 154 Washington donors and nearly 7,600 nationwide. On the average, three organs are harvested from each donor.