If I choose to be an organ donor, I will not be resuscitated or treated appropriately in a critical health condition.
NOT TRUE.
The declaration in the donor register has no influence on your medical treatment during your lifetime. Medical treatment and organ donation are completely separate processes. Furthermore, medical personnel do not have access to the information about the declaration in the donor register during the patient’s lifetime. Only after death can it be unlocked by authorised healthcare professionals (a doctor or a transplant coordinator). In accordance with medical doctrine and ethics, medical personnel endeavour to preserve the health and life of each patient by all available methods and means. Unfortunately, in some cases death is imminent.
There is no point in joining the donor register because I am too old to donate organs.
NOT TRUE.
There is no age limit for the declaration in the register. By making the declaration, you are expressing your support for organ donation. In case of possible organ donation, doctors carefully evaluate the medical suitability of organs for transplantation. The evaluation is based on the health of your organs, not your age. The donation of some organs and especially tissue is also possible at an advanced age (over 80 years).
I have a serious or chronic illness and my organs will not suitable for donation.
NOT TRUE.
The risk of transmitting infections or diseases to the recipient is assessed by doctors. The suitability of individual organs for transplant is assessed on an organ-by-organ basis. Diseases can only be limited to individual organs. Corneas and other tissues can also be donated at an advanced age and despite illness.
After the donation, burial in an open coffin is no longer possible. The donation is also an obstacle to important (religious) death rituals (e.g. wrapping the corpse in white sheets).
NOT TRUE.
Donors’ bodies are treated with respect and care. The corpse remains whole after donation. In the case of removed organs, the appearance is similar to that after an operation. Burial in an open coffin and other traditional or religious funeral rites are possible depending on the religion of the deceased and their relatives.
My religion does not allow organ donation after death.
NOT TRUE.
All major world religions (e.g. Christianity, Orthodoxy and Islam) support and encourage organ donation. They understand voluntary and selfless giving as the highest act of love and human compassion.
After brain death, a person can wake up again.
NOT TRUE.
Brain death should not be confused with coma, as they have completely different characteristics and symptoms. Brain death is the final and irreversible loss of all brain functions. When a person’s brain dies, all organs and vital functions begin to die rapidly. Brain death is not comparable state to a coma. Coma is a temporary condition as the brain continues to be supplied with blood.
I have read on the internet that organs are removed from people who are still alive.
NOT TRUE.
The primary rule for organ donation is the dead donor rule. That is, patients may become donors only after death, and the procurement of organs must not cause a donor’s death. As long as the person is not clearly dead, the procedures for donation do not take place. According to the Slovenian protocol for determining brain death, a person’s entire brain (brain stem and cortex) must cease to function. Brain death is determined by several independent experts at different intervals. At least two doctors carry out separate diagnostic tests and checks at clearly defined intervals. Death can also occur as a result of circulatory arrest.
People with good acquaintances and wealth get an immediate turn for transplant treatment, but others may die before receiving a suitable organ.
NOT TRUE.
The patient’s circle of acquaintances and material wealth have no influence on the accessibility and success of the treatment. In Slovenia, transplant treatment is covered by basic health insurance for everyone. Self-payment treatment in private clinics is not possible. Not every organ is suitable for every patient. The allocation of organs is based on clear and transparent criteria. The decisive factors are immunogenetic and medical criteria, the size of the organ, the location of the vessels and other special features of the recipient.