People who have a donor sticker on their license receive less than full treatment by EMTs so their organs can be harvested. But is this a myth?
In the article “You Can’t Take Them With You” by Patty Stonesifer and Sandy Stonesifer, Sandy says the myth is true.
Sandy comments on the dilemma: “A surgeon was charged with a felony for allegedly hastening a potential donor’s death…the new guidelines allow for the donor’s surrogate to consent to withdrawal of life support…thus increasing the chance that the organs can be harvested in a short enough time to be successfully transplanted into a needy recipient.”
Janet Nowak is number one on the donor list for lungs; she has been on the list for about nine months. This has emotionally affected the family. The family is wondering if people are ignorant, selfish, or vain for not being a donor. Why can’t someone who is dead give up their organs for someone who is in need for them to stay alive? They can’t do anything with their organs after they are dead, so why not let someone else use them.
Putting the organ donor sticker on your license is up to you. When people put the donor sticker on their license, they don’t think oh I shouldn’t be doing this, the EMTs aren’t going to try as hard to save my life. They think, if something bad were ever to happen to me, I will be able to save other peoples’ lives.
If EMTs truly didn’t give their full treatment to people with donor stickers, people wouldn’t put the sticker on their license. Without people putting the sticker on their license, there would be fewer donors. Without any donors, other people’s lives wouldn’t be saved.
EMTs give the people in need their fullest attention. You have to believe EMTs will not even think about whether you have a donor sticker or not, not think about people on the donor list, and not respond with their fullest attention.