New Yorkers Least Likely to Enroll as Organ Donors

Fewer people in New York state register as organ donors than in any other state in the nation.

James Pardes, an executive at Live On New York, the state's federally designated organ procurement organization, says due to the shortage, people needing transplants tend to wait longer here than elsewhere — and every 18 hours, a New Yorker dies.

Nationally, about 50 percent of adults have enrolled to be organ donors. In New York, the proportion is 25 percent.

Pardes says turning that around is a challenge, because civic participation is not a local strength.

"We're also towards the bottom in volunteerism, towards the bottom in blood donation, and we're towards the bottom in voter participation," he said.

 Volunteers from Live On New York recently set up tables at hospitals and various public gathering spots around the state for Organ Donor Enrollment Day, netting more than 3,000 new enrollees.

Pardes says Live On New York is working to lower New York's age of consent for donation from 18 to 16 or 17, as it is in other states. 

"There's an idealism. There's a distance from death," he said. "I do think there's an opportunity here."

But it also has to do with trips to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Some 90 percent of organ donors enroll while signing up for or renewing their drivers licenses. Many people get their driver's permit at age 16 and don't have to go back to the DMV until their late twenties, losing a whole decade when they could be registered.