During Organ Donation Week, we pay tribute to those who have helped save the lives of others through organ donation and support this year’s NHS Blood and Transplant campaign.

Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance attend the most critically ill and injured patients in the region. Our pre-hospital critical care team make every effort to enable patients to recover from their injuries, but despite this, some patient’s injuries are so severe that they sadly do not survive. This is so incredibly devastating for families and friends left behind.

Some patients have expressed their wishes to be an organ donor after death. Since January this year, 44 lives have been saved or transformed with the donation of organs by patients who were looked after by our team. We would like to take this opportunity to recognise and commemorate the patients and their loved ones who enabled others to have a second chance of life, with the life-saving gift of organ donation. Our thoughts remain with the patient’s family and friends.

Organ Donation Week is a national campaign focused on increasing awareness of organ donation, encouraging people to make an informed choice and registering their decision. According to NHS Blood and Transplant, many opportunities are lost every year in Dorset, Somerset and across the UK, because families are unsure of their loved ones’ wishes. That is why registering your choice and sharing it with your family is so important. Whatever your decision, leave them certain.

The NHS Organ Donor Register is a secure database that keeps a record of your decision, it takes two minutes to complete.

REGISTER YOUR DECISION