Checking 'donor' on driver's license isn't enough

Even though more than 90 percent of people support organ and tissue donation, the number of people who need transplants has been growing about five times faster than the rate of donations. Indeed, more than 2,000 individuals in the Pacific Northwest are awaiting an organ transplant, while thousands more are waiting for a tissue transplant. Yet, according to the Pacific Northwest Transplant Bank, there were only 103 deceased donors in Oregon and Washington in 2006.

Yes, 1.5 million Oregonians have a &#8220D" on their driver's license. But that designation only provides intent to become an organ donor. Under these circumstances, the deceased's family members ultimately make the final decision.

What's even more problematic is that only 15,000 organ donors a year nationally die in circumstances - such as brain deaths resulting from head trauma - that even make them suitable for transplants. And only half of those deaths actually result in organ donations due to consent issues.

So what's the solution? The bigger the pool of consented organ donors becomes, the better chance someone on the waiting list receives an organ.

To make consent easy - and to increase the donor pool - Donate Life Northwest recently launched an online donor registry. Those who wish to become organ and tissue donors and take the burden off their families can simply log onto a secure and confidential website to document their decision. Further, the registry serves as a central database for donation information, allowing organ, eye and tissue recovery agencies to quickly identify donors.

As an organ recipient, I believe the online registry is an important step in helping people like me receive a life-saving transplant. And although the driver's license &#8220D" designation is commendable, it is only considered intent to donate. Signing up on the registry is considered informed consent to donate. Please visit www.donatelifenw.org to donate life.

Donna Davis, 69, is a Lebanon resident and a liver transplant recipient. She is a retired volunteer coordinator for Our Saviour's Lutheran Church and now volunteers with Donate Life Northwest, which is connected with Oregon Health Sciences University.

She has a disorder, Polycythemia vera, which causes her blood to thicken and clog the liver, a condition called Budd Charia Syndrome. She received a new liver on June 12, 1997 at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver.