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The Dallas County Medical Society has a long and
rich history of community health initiatives. DCMS provides our
members with meaningful opportunities to use their medical skills
to positively impact the lives of people in our community and improve
their health outcomes. Whether you are interested in area mission
efforts or disaster and pandemic preparedness, DCMS has just the
opportunity for physicians who want to put heart and soul back into
their practice by volunteering. DCMS is proud to play an active
role in contributing to a healthy community.
Online Registry Eases Organ
Donation Sign-up in Texas
A new state law making it easier to register online to become an
organ or tissue donor should greatly increase the number of donors.
The law, which went into effect Sept. 1, allows people to enroll
in the online donor registry giving only an electronic signature.
Previously, donors had to mail in their registration with two
witness signatures to validate their decision.
The law also changes the question people will be asked when applying
for driver’s licenses. Previously, prospective donors were
asked, “In the event of your death, would you like to make
an anatomical gift?”
“Most people said ‘no,” said Pam Silvestri,
director of communications for Southwest Transplant Alliance in
Dallas. “First, they bring up death and many people don’t
know what an anatomical gift is. The question sounds like it was
written by an attorney.”
Now people will be asked simply: “Would you like to register
to be an organ donor?” Silvestri believes this will generate
a dramatic increase in the number of organ donors.
Texas has a statewide donor registry program operated by the Texas
Department of State Health Services. The Glenda Dawson Donate Life
Texas registry is available at www.donatelifetexas.org.
The registry is named in memory of State Rep. Glenda Dawson’s
work in getting a donor, education, awareness, and registry program
in Texas. The law creating the registry went into effect in September
2006 and was re-named for Dawson in 2007.
The registry is funded by a $1 contribution that Texans can make
when applying for or renewing their driver’s license or identification
card, or when registering their vehicle. Nationwide, about 102,670
people are on waiting lists for organs. In Texas, they number 9,326,
according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The majority in Texas — 7,096 — are awaiting kidney
transplants followed by 1,660 awaiting liver transplants. In 2007,
nearly 500 people in Texas died waiting for organ transplants.
Before the Texas registry there was no official, centralized list
of people who wanted to give consent to being donors, according
to the Web site.
Register to be an organ and tissue donor today, visit www.donatelifetexas.org.
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