My Decision

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I under­stand and autho­rize the fol­low­ing as indi­cat­ed by my sig­na­ture for autho­riza­tion on my donor registration.

Dona­tion requires a physi­cian’s dec­la­ra­tion of death and my deci­sion to help oth­ers through dona­tion. There is no cost to the fam­i­ly or estate for any­thing relat­ed to dona­tion. All hos­pi­tal charges unre­lat­ed to dona­tion, as well as funer­al expens­es, remain the respon­si­bil­i­ty of the fam­i­ly or estate.

The pri­va­cy and the con­fi­den­tial­i­ty of the donor and the deci­sion for dona­tion is respect­ed. Infor­ma­tion is only shared with those indi­vid­u­als and orga­ni­za­tions involved in the dona­tion process; this includes hos­pi­tal and trans­plan­ta­tion staff, the funer­al provider and the med­ical examiner’s office. Copies of med­ical records, the death cer­tifi­cate, and the autop­sy report, if there is one, are obtained and reviewed.

Part of the donor eval­u­a­tion process requires trans­mis­si­ble dis­ease test­ing. These tests are per­formed to ensure the safe­ty of trans­plant recip­i­ents. Iowa laws require that pos­i­tive con­firmed tests be report­ed to the Iowa Depart­ment of Health and Human Ser­vices. Oth­er eval­u­a­tive tests, pro­ce­dures and biop­sies may also be performed.

The place­ment of organs, eyes, and tis­sues is direct­ed by local, state, and fed­er­al guide­lines and trans­plan­ta­tion stan­dards. At times, tis­sue may be sent to help peo­ple in oth­er coun­tries. Through med­ical break­throughs, recov­ered tis­sue can be reshaped and reformed to accom­mo­date a vari­ety of trans­plant needs. Also, in order to ben­e­fit the great­est num­ber of recip­i­ents, both non­prof­it and for-prof­it orga­ni­za­tions may be involved in the process.

The work of recov­ery in the dona­tion process is per­formed with care and does not nor­mal­ly inter­fere with funer­al arrange­ments. Dona­tion includes the care­ful restora­tion of the donor. Bruis­ing and swelling are rare but can occur. For tis­sue dona­tion, the donor may be trans­port­ed to a dona­tion facil­i­ty for recov­ery pro­ce­dures. The med­ical examiner’s office deter­mines if an eval­u­a­tion or autop­sy is nec­es­sary and if any restric­tions regard­ing the dona­tion process are required. Fol­low­ing the recov­ery of anatom­i­cal gifts and the med­ical examiner’s eval­u­a­tion (if applic­a­ble), funer­al plans and/​or oth­er arrange­ments may proceed.