Re: Organ Donations
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Doesn't everyone choose this when they renew their drivers license?
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It is an "opt-in" system. If you choose to put it on your license then this is a legal expression of your wish to become an organ donor, and an organization like mine will try and make that happen. On the other hand, if you do not put this on your driver's license it is NOT a legal expression of your wish not to donate. We would approach your family and ask them for permission to recover your organs. If your family knows you don't want to be an organ donor then they would obviously decline.
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Also, is your post implying that they keep the body alive on a ventilator while removing the organs?
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Ok I'll give you the brain dead scenario since that is by far the most common. First you are declared brain dead. There are laws and regulations governing what it means to be brain dead in every state, and all hospitals have their own policies regarding how brain death is determined. Generally it is a series of tests done twice, at least 6 hours apart by two separate neurologists. When you are declared brain dead you are both clinically and legally dead. There is zero activity going on in your brain. And I don't mean like thoughts or dreams, I mean your brain is completely non functional and it is not regulating anything in your body. This means that when you're brain dead, you do not breathe by yourself.
So now through the wonder of modern medicine they can have you hooked to a ventilator that does all the breathing for you. As long as you are breathing your heart will keep trying to beat. Of course the brain is not regulating the heartbeat so it can get wildly fast or slow, but you can be given different drugs that will keep your heart beating at a regular pace, as well the function of all your organs.
Anyway what will happen in brain dead cases is your family is given time to say their goodbyes. You are then wheeled to an operating room. The recovery team will basically "open you up" (sorry I don't know a more PC way of saying that). They then turn off the ventilator and your heart stops. As soon as your heart stops they begin the recovery. You, of course, do not feel a thing because you are dead.
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