David Teune of Concord is a donation coordinator for New England Donor Services (NEDS).

Over 100,000 people in the U.S. are currently on the national organ transplant waitlist. Patients anxiously await the phone call to inform them that a stranger made a decision to donate and will save their life through organ donation.

However, amid these noble intentions, misconceptions often cloud public perception about donation. These myths can hinder informed decision-making and lead individuals to say “no” to donation based on false information. Combating these widespread myths and debunking them with facts is critical if we are to build a culture where the decision to donate is considered a fundamental human responsibility.

April is National Donate Life Month, and as a donation coordinator for one of the nation’s largest organ procurement organizations, we recognize this as an important time to celebrate and remember the thousands of organ donors across the country and throughout New England that made so many life-saving transplants possible. During this month, we take special care to build awareness and educate the community about donation and dispel the falsehoods that can stand in the way of the gift of life.

Myth 1: “Lots of people die every day so there should be plenty of organ donors. I’ll let someone else donate.”

Fact: The primary reason for the nation’s long transplant waitlist is that very few people die in a manner suitable for organ donation. It is estimated that only 1% of all U.S. deaths and under 3% of all U.S. hospital deaths meet the stringent medical requirements to be potential donors. A potential donor must have suffered a devastating brain injury and declared dead in a hospital ICU while on mechanical ventilator support. The potential donor must also be free of cancer, infection and have good organ function. Because the opportunity to be a donor after death is so rare, it is especially important that as many of us as possible say “yes” to donation.

Myth 2: “If doctors know I am a registered donor, they won’t try as hard to save me.”

Fact: The reality is that a patient’s donation status is never considered by medical professionals when trying to save their lives. Their focus is to provide the best possible care to a patient. To be considered as a donor, a brain injured patient must have received excellent medical intervention in an attempt to save their life. Because patients must be ventilated, stabilized and in a hospital ICU at the time of death to be considered for donation, any medical professional that does not appropriately treat a patient to the fullest extent possible prior to their death would actually put the opportunity for donation at risk.

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Myth 3: “I’m too old or have too many medical problems to be an organ donor.”

Fact: Each potential donor is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. When someone dies in a hospital on a ventilator, medical professionals will factor in the overall health of organs, medical history, and the specific needs of the possible transplant recipient. Except for certain cancers, there are no automatic disqualifying health conditions or age for donation. Individuals with chronic illnesses or of advanced age routinely become organ donors and save the lives of others.

Myth 4: “Only the rich and famous can get an organ transplant.”

Fact: Last year, there were nearly 40,000 transplants in the U.S. resulting from deceased individuals who became donors, the 13th record year for donation and transplants in a row. Over 55% of those receiving transplants had coverage through public insurance programs and over 50% of all transplant recipients were non-white, representing a wide range of diversity, races and ethnicities. The computerized system that allocates each available organ to the listed transplant patient considers factors such as time waiting on the list, medical urgency, distance from the donor, body, and blood type. The computer does not know how much money a patient has or how famous they might be.

Being well informed of the facts of how donation and transplant occur is a necessary first step in making the decision to donate life. Unlike other aspects of health care, transplants can only occur when someone says yes to the life-affirming donation question.

It is easy to register your decision to be a donor either through a state driver’s license renewal process, the Apple iPhone health app or at www.RegisterMe.org. The old saying still holds true, “To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world.”