Your person who died may have made their views about organ and tissue donation clear to you. Or you may not be sure what their wishes are. Their wishes may be outlined in their Will if they have one. You can also ask the hospital to check if they are on the Australian Organ Donor Register. If they are a registered organ donor you may be asked by the medical team to consider organ donation.
Queensland Tissue Bank
Soon after the death of your person, the senior available next of kin may be contacted by the Qld Tissue Bank.
The Queensland Tissue Bank is a part of Queensland Health and can facilitate the opportunity for your person to become a tissue donor for transplant purposes. The staff at the tissue bank will know a small amount of medical information about your loved one and will only call you if they identify that your person may be suitable as a tissue donor. You may already know what your person’s wishes are, or you may not have had that conversation with them before.
The decision to donate is between you and your family and should consider what your person’s wishes during life would have been. The tissue donation procedure needs to be completed within 24hrs of death so it should not delay funeral plans. If the opportunity of tissue donation is something you want to discuss further before your loved ones passing, please feel free to reach out to the Qld Tissue Bank, phone: 07 3121 2626, and the donation team will be able to help you with any questions you might have.
Donated to a university
If your person prearranged for their body to be donated to a university, the university will need to be notified of the death to assess suitability and if accepted, arrange transportation as soon as possible. Transportation is typically managed by the university’s contracted funeral director.
Donation is time sensitive
Organ and tissue donation is time sensitive, and you may be contacted soon after your person has died. Similarly, you will need to contact the university soon after the death. Whilst overwhelming, this is your opportunity to show respect for the wishes of the person who died. If, however you find it difficult to cope with the decision of donation, the senior available next of kin can revoke the consent to donation and the donation won’t proceed.