Social Media Helps Remedy Organ Donation Crisis

By bakercreative, May 2, 2012

Organ donation awareness and communication is a big problem in the United States. 

On May 1, an ABC News Exclusive announced the launch of a new Facebook tool that may help remedy the situation.  The new application allows members to share their donor status via the life events option on their Facebook profiles.  If the member is not yet a donor, instructions are available to help them register on the appropriate list for their area. 

Here’s how the process works:

1. Log into Facebook.
2. Click on the “Life Event” tab above the status update field.
3. Go to the “Health and Wellness” option and choose “Organ Donor”.
4. If you are not registered already, click on the “sign up on appropriate registry” link. A new tab will open with instructions on how to officially sign up.  IMPORTANT: Just because you choose the Organ Donor option as a Life Event on your Facebook page DOES NOT make you a legally registered donor. To complete the process, you must enlist yourself on the official registry.
5. Control who sees your organ donation setting by clicking on the privacy setting button and choosing the appropriate settings.

We are excited to see Facebook’s effort to help spread the word and help those in need.  At Baker Creative, organ donation is very near and dear to our hearts.  One hundred percent of our office staff is on the donor registry and we challenge you to do it to. 

Help us spread our challenge and share on this post to your friends. We greatly appreciate it!

Check out these statistics:

• About 100,000 people on the organ donation list at any given time (fluctuates depending on supply and demand)
• An estimated 79 people receive organs each day while 18 will die waiting.
• Only 26 states offer the organ donation option on driver licenses.
• Around 30 percent of the US population is on the organ donor registry or about 100 million people.
• Sixty-two percent of donors are female.
• One organ donor can help up to eight people.

People on the Organ Donor Registry

• 67 percent Caucasian
• 16 percent African American
• 13 percent Hispanic/Latino
• 2.3 percent Asian

Awaiting Donor Organs

• 45 percent Caucasian
• 29.2 percent African American
• 17.8 percent Latino
• 6.4 percent Asians
• 0.5 percent Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
• 1.1 percent Other

Still living five years after organ donation:

• 69.3 percent kidneys
• 74.9 percent heart
• 73.8 percent liver
•  54.4 percent lungs

                                                                                             Statistics provided by OrganDonor.gov.