Pop quiz: What percentage of eligible Texans have signed up to become organ donors?
A. 95%
B. 65%
C. 35%
D. 15%
If you thought D (the right answer) sounded way too low, given Texas generosity, join the club. But the good news is that the figure has doubled in a matter of months, and Texans are now signing up to donate their lifesaving organs in unprecedented numbers.
The registry exceeded 2.7 million this month, a tenfold increase in less than three years.
Why the change?
The process of signing up has been streamlined, both online and for people applying for or renewing a driver’s license.
It used to be that Department of Public Safety personnel asked technical-sounding questions to driver’s license applicants at DPS offices. That has been simplified in recent years, and a new state law in 2011 finally mandated one 10-word question be asked: “Would you like to register to be an organ donor?”
Even better, this summer DPS opened up its employee training to allow the group Donate Life Texas to educate workers on answering common questions from the public. DPS workers met volunteers who were alive because of organs donated through DPS registration. And some DPS workers announced that they, too, were recipients of donated organs.
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{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
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