This April, New Mexico is celebrating the second-annual Donate Life Month to encourage the public to become organ donors and dispel myths about organ and tissue donations.
"This is a way to save someone's life after you pass on," said Maria Sanders, communication director of New Mexico Donor Services. "It is one of the few gifts you can give at the time of death."
Sanders said the most common misconception people have about donating is not being a priority for the hospital if someone is an organ donor.
"There is that fear from the community that if they are a donor, the hospitals and E.M.T.s will not try to save them, which is completely false," Sanders said.
According to the Life Gift Web site, organ and tissue recovery only takes place after all efforts to save a life have been exhausted and death has been legally declared.
"Organs are only taken from someone who is brain dead," Sanders said.
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She said after a medical evaluation, the family is asked if they want to donate, or the victim's driver's license is inspected for indication of the donor symbol, a little red heart in New Mexico.
After death, the organs must be recovered immediately, and tissue must be removed within 24 hours.
Sanders said some individuals are also worried about their bodies looking "mutilated" after donation.
"The bodies are treated with the utmost respect," she said. "People who donate can still have an open casket funeral or be cremated, whatever their wishes are."
According to a news release from New Mexico Donor Services, New Mexico is one of 17 states where a driver's license serves as first-person consent for donation.
While the red heart indicates an organ donor, due to new wording in state legislation, licenses before 2003 need a donation sticker added to the back of the license to make the decision valid.
The stickers make it impossible for a family member to overturn the decision of the deceased donor, something that is allowed without the sticker.
Stickers can be obtained for free at any state Motor Vehicle Division office.
According to the news release, more than 84,000 people in the United States are on the waiting list for an organ. About 400 of those people are New Mexicans.
"The average wait is about two to four years, but the critical cases are moved up the list," said Sanders.
Sanders also said that about 17 people in the country die each day waiting for an organ, and donations from one person can save up to 50 people.
According to the news release, in 2003 deceased donors saved the lives of 18,649 people in the United States.
Sanders said she is hoping this month will make a difference.
"There are hundreds of people in New Mexico waiting for that gift," she said.
