Deceased Organ Donation

When a person has been declared dead and his/her organ donation wishes shared, the process of donation can begin. After some form of consent, the procurement team surgically removes the organ(s), which are then prepared to be transported to the hospital where the organ will be transplanted. The United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) Organ Placement Specialist is given medical information about the donor and the organs, which is entered into a computer that runs a match to compile a list of potential recipients, in order of priority. All this is done very quickly because organs have limited preservation times outside the human body.

The organ arrives for the transplant team to surgically insert the organ into the transplant recipient.

This illustration of the Organ Matching System can used to
follow the path of an organ in either a deceased or living donor.