DEAD DRIVERS’ BODY PARTS COULD BE DONATED
MBABANE - Drivers with good hearts and who wish to donate their organs after death could soon be granted their wish in the event of accidental death on the road.
This is according to the new information which will now be included to the personal details of drivers who are licensed to drive along the country’s busy roads.
Licence holders will have the option of identifying the body parts they would like the state to harvest from their bodies in the event they are involved in an accident which is life threatening and where death is imminent.
According to information sourced from other countries where organs are donated as an option for motor vehicle drivers, organ donation requires consent from the next of kin of the deceased.
The donation of eye and skin, can happen even after the heart stops.
For all practical purposes, donation of other organs like the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas and bowel can happen only if the heart is beating.
In India for example, if death happens in an accident due to a head injury but they are able to get the body on a ventilator in time, the organs may continue to function for several days. There is time to take permission from the family for organ donation once tests for brain death have been performed.
“There is another form of donation after cardiac death. Once the heart stops, blood flow to the various organs stops and the blood begins to clot in the blood vessels. There is a very short period of time in which the organs need to be removed if they are to be used for transplant,” read some of the information sourced from www.quora.com.
In countries where the permission of the next-of-kin is not required, this may still be possible if cardiac arrest happens in the hospital. The time period is about half an hour for the liver and about an hour for the kidney.
Lindiwe Dlamini, who is the Minister of Works and Public Transport confirmed the fact that the country intended to incorporate the SADC driver’s licence format in Swazi issued driver’s licences. “This is why now if a driver licence holder wishes to donate a certain organ in the event s/he dies s/he will indicate through information found on his card.
“Remember, all the information included on the card will be as contained in the SADC driver licence format,” she said when explaining the changes that will be contained in the coming drivers licences.
In previous interviews, the minister said the licences would be valid for a period of five years.
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