To the editor:
I am writing to try and inform people who keep referring to “having signed or promote signing organ donor cards”.
In June of 2011, the Government of Ontario created the online registration site “beadonor.ca”. With the creation of this online registration site, it becomes very simple for people to register their wishes to be an organ and tissue donor.
The “donor card” which had been in existence for countless years became “obsolete” with the creation of this program.
The organ donor “card” that in past years came with a driver’s license is now replaced with a sheet of paper that can be filled in and forwarded to complete the person’s wishes. But the most efficient method is to register online.
This card was never a good method to ensure that a person was, in fact, an organ and tissue donor.
The first step before you go on the “beadonor.ca” site to register your intention to donate is to inform your next of kin or the person designated to attend to your matters at the time of death that your decision is in fact to be an organ or tissue donor and that decision is registered at “beadonor.ca”.
The other way is to complete the form that came with your driver’s license renewal and mail it to the address on the form. Either way please inform the person that has been mentioned in the previous sentence.
There is “NO” organ donor card that you carry. Putting this decision in your will is of no benefit, as time is very critical to retrieving organs and tissue and by the time the will is read the organs/tissue will be of no use.
The registration will require you to have your OHIP card with you at the time. For more information about being a “registered” organ/tissue donor please visit either the Trillium Gift of Life Network or the beadonor.ca web sites.
Gary Cooper,
Volunteer
Trillium Gift of Life Network
