Willingness to donate organs can be revoked at any time

Everyone decides whether or not to donate their organs in the event of death. However, this decision is not binding for life. Rather, the willingness to donate organs can be revoked at any time, as informed by the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA). If a patient does not have an organ donor card that states whether and, if so, which organs should be donated, the relatives must decide on the suspected intention of the deceased.

What are the requirements for organ donation??
Those who want to donate their organs in the event of death should either record this decision in an organ donor card, which is always carried in a purse, or inform his relatives about his request. Because an organ donation is basically only possible if the person has previously approved the organ removal. In certain diseases, such as HIV or acute cancer, organ donation is excluded. In other diseases of the deceased doctors decide in each case, whether his organs are suitable for transplantation.

An organ removal is generally only carried out if the affected person has been diagnosed with brain death and thus a recovery is excluded. For this, two doctors have to make this diagnosis independently of each other. Otherwise, the organs may not be removed and the patient will continue to take all necessary measures to save his life.
According to the guidelines of the German Medical Association, brain death is defined as "the condition of the irreversibly extinguished overall function of the cerebellum and cerebellum." Then the functions of the brain are irretrievably destroyed, as the cerebral circulation no longer exists. According to the BZgA, "Brain death is a sure sign of death for humans according to the world-renowned, scientific and medical state of knowledge", emphasizes the BZgA in a leaflet on organ donation.

No central register for organ donation readiness in Germany
Many people are still unsure if they want to donate their organs. The BZgA points out in this context that the decision for or against organ donation can be revoked at any time. Thus, the organ donor card can be destroyed and a new filled with the current decision. There is no central register in Germany, in which the readiness for organ donation is deposited.

To make sure that the personal decision for or against the donation of organs in the event of death is also implemented, it makes sense to carry the organ donor card always with him, so that he is found in an emergency also. The badges are available in many doctors' offices, pharmacies and health insurance companies. The "Infotelefon Organ donation", a joint institution of the BZgA and the German Foundation for Organ Transplantation (DSO), also provides information on organ donor card. In the meantime, the ID cards can also be ordered online or filled in and printed out on the computer.

It is less advisable to note the willingness to donate organs in the will as this is often the case
is only opened when an organ removal is no longer possible.

According to the DSO, more than 10,000 people are currently on the waiting list for a donor organ. Not infrequently, the waiting time is many years. Unfortunately, many still wait in vain and die before they get an organ. (Ag)