It could be the ultimate gift: Signing up to be an organ
donor can save dozens of lives.
When it comes to making that commitment, Maritimers are
leading the way.
Based on data obtained through Access to Information
requests, globalnews.ca has created an interactive map showing the percentage
of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick residents on the organ donor
registry.
Nearly half of Nova Scotians are registered, the highest
number in the country.
While New
Brunswick is behind its neighbour, with 38 per
cent, it's way ahead of much larger provinces.
British Columbia has 19 per
cent of its population signed up; Ontario
has only 16 per cent.
In fact, in parts of Toronto
donor registration is under five per cent.
The medical director for Nova Scotia's organ donation program says
the numbers are promising, but numbers aren't everything.
"The real number that matters is how many actual donors
do we have per year," Dr. Stephen Beed says.
"The percent that said they would be a donor if tragedy
befell them is important to focus on, but the real system issue relates to how
many actual donors do we get?
In order to qualify as a donor, a person has to die from a
very specific type of neurological injury and of the approximately 4,000 deaths
in the province each year, only about 30 people qualify.
Pat Demolitor is a nurse in Bridgewater, N.S.
who has seen firsthand the difference organ donation can make, but it wasn't a
patient of hers who gave the gift of life.
Her son, Simon, collapsed in class from a brain aneurism
seven years ago.
The healthy 19-year-old's organs and tissue helped 42
people: his corneas went to a child who would otherwise not be able to see; his
skin tissue to a burn victim; his heart to a man already preparing for death.
"All that kept going through my mind was I certainly
don't want to see all those tissues and organs wasted, Demolitor says.
"That would be a crime."
She says Simon registering to be an organ donor had an
impact on more than just the recipients and their families.
Demolitor says several people have told her they signed to be an organ donor because of Simon.
Donor numbers higher in urban areas
Even with some of the highest rates of organ donor registration
in the country, the concentration of potential donors is highest around Halifax.
Based on census data obtained through Access to Information,
Global News discovered communities in Halifax Regional Municipality had the
biggest concentration of people signed up to be donors of the two provinces.
(View the interactive map below, breaking down the rates by
postal code)
In downtown Halifax (postal code B3J) 51 per cent of
residents said are registered and across the harbour nearly 70 per cent of the
people living in Dartmouth (postal code B3B) have made the commitment.
But, that number drops significantly as you head out of the
region.
A few hours drive down the 103 to the South Shore (postal
code B0T) the number drops to 40 per cent.
Legacy of Life was formed in 2006 in hopes of raising donor
registration numbers around the province, outside of HRM.
The organization's program manager, Corinne Corning, says
education and promotion are just one part of the process.
"Most people aren't really aware that the opportunity
to be able to donate is actually very small in relation to the number of people
who die," she says.
It's about one to three per cent of patients who are
eligible and they have to have suffered significant brain injuries and be on
life support in order for their organs to be donated.
But there is hope no eligible donor will be overlooked, Corning assures.
A new provincial act could be proclaimed in the spring of
2012, streamlining the referral process to make sure no potential donors are
missed.
"What that will do is make sure that all of the
hospitals have that process in place to refer every potential donor," she
explains.
*With files from Rebecca Lau and Patrick Cain
Percentage of residents on an organ donor registry
| Over 60% | 55-60% | 50-55% | 45-50% | 40-45% | Under 40% |
Interactive map by Patrick Cain
© Shaw Media Inc., 2012. All rights reserved.