Persuasive Essay: The Development Of Organ Transplants

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Jon Harmening Academic Writing Mr. Steiner 5/9/14 The Ultimate Gift When an organ such as your heart, liver, kidney or pancreas fails to function, the only remaining option may be to have an organ transplant. What if there are not enough organs to be used to save the lives of people who are in need? This is one of the huge problems we are facing today, not only in the United States, but all over the world. Due to the lack of organ donors, many people in need of an organ will die because they could not find a match in time, or because there were simply no organs to be offered. This problem can be dramatically changing if more people are willing to donate their organs. The first attempts of organ transplants came during the early 1900’s, but due to the lack of drugs and insight about the procedures, they often failed because of organ rejection, killing most patients (The Development of Organ Transplantation). Today, transplantations of different organs would be a lot more common if there were more organ donors to donate. With less people being killed on the highways and in other accidents, the amount of organs needed for people who truly need them has decreased greatly. Options to overcome this loss have been proposed, such as the transformation from an “Opt-In” to an “Opt-Out” organization, where organs would be used unless someone respectively objected the use of them (Egendorf). There are many important pieces to make organ donation and transplantation successful, such as the process it goes through and the requirements that are involved. Organ donation is when one person is willing and able to give their tissues and organs away and give them to someone else who is in need of them. Most organs and tissues that are don... ... middle of paper ... ...n. As calculations are being completed, the OPO will then contact the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. This network operates the database of every patient in the United States. The OPTN is operated by the United Network of Organ Sharing which is a private organization that helps the men, women and children in need of crucial organs (Organ Donation: The Process). The final part is arranging the arrival and departure times for the surgical staff. Time is significant as the organ needs to be delivered quickly so it remains healthy. Transportation of organs may vary depending on the distance and are mainly transferred by airplane, helicopter, or ambulance. After all this waiting and hard work, the operation will take place by a surgical team working around the clock to transplant the new organ in the awaiting recipient (Organ Donation: The Process).

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