An online registry of organ donors in Wisconsin has hit a major milestone. Over one million Wisconsinites have now made their intentions to be an organ donor official. The registry was designed to make it easier for people to sign up to be an organ donor and for hospitals to identify them.
Donate Life Wisconsin president Martha Mallon says those who register online can have that decision accessed by hospitals statewide, making it easier to identify their donor status if their driver’s license is not available for some reason.
Mallon says registering online is different from just having the orange dot on your driver’s license, because it is treated as a declaration of consent to be a donor that cannot be overturned by family members or anyone else.
The registry went online in March of 2010. Mallon credits the quick rise to a million donors to DMV service centers helping them with sign-ups. Still, she says their work is far from being done.
There are over 4.5 million people in the state with a driver’s license and over 2.5 million who have orange dots signifying they wish to be a donor. Mallon says they hope to continue adding those people to the online registry.
AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports 1:06
