Organ Donation and Transplantation 1. Organ donation (捐献) and transplantation (移植) refers to the process by which organs or tissues from one person are put into another person's body. 2. The number of people needing a transplant continues to rise faster than the number of donors. A- bout 3,700 transplant candidates are added to the national waiting list each month. Each day, about 77 people receive organ transplants. However, 18 people die each day waiting for transplants that can't take place because of the shortage of donated organs. 3. There are no age limits on who can donate. Newborns as well as senior citizens have been organ donors. If you are under age 18, you must have a parent's or guardian's consent (同意). If you are 18 years or older, you can show you want to be an organ and tissue donor by signing a donor card. 4. Many people think that if they agree to donate their organs, the doctor or the emergency room staff won't work as hard to save their life. This is not true. The transplant team is completely separate from the medical staff working to save your life. The transplant team does not become involved with you until doctors have determined that all possible efforts to save your life have failed. 5. If you need an organ transplant, your doctor will help you get on the national waiting list. Your name will be added to a pool of names. When an organ donor becomes available, all the patients in the pool are compared to that donor. Factors such as blood and tissue type, size of the organ, medical urgency (紧急) of the patient's illness, time already spent on the waiting list, and distance between donor and recipient (授受者) are considered.