Contrary to popular belief, only five percent of people who pass through the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital are eligible to be organ donors.

Simply dying young, or even dying suddenly in a road accident, does not automatically enable a family to offer the major organs of their loved ones for donation.

In fact, age has nothing whatsoever to do with it. People from birth to 84-years-of age can be considered suitable for donation.

However, the margin of candidates is so narrow and the criteria so fastidious, that few people who enter ICU go on to become donors.

And the reason for this is because every ethical and health consideration has to be given in every single case, and, unless they are met, transplants are not an option.

The guideline for physicians and nursing staff is very simple: Unless the patient is officially certified as brain dead organs cannot be removed for donation.

ICU clinical coordinator Glenda Daniels, who has recently launched Bermuda's Organ and Tissue Donor Council, said it was because of this reason that she wished to spread the word on how important the issue was.

She said: "I think a lot of people believe that most people, when they die, can be donors, but this is far from the truth. The criteria is such that we have relatively few people who can be considered for donation.

"Only about five percent of people who come through ICU are able to donate. You have to be brain dead and you have to be in the ICU on a ventilator.

"This is why we need to ensure that those people who are able to donate, wish to. The ideal situation for us is where every family who has a loved one certified as brain dead wishes to have their organs donated.

"The transplant lists worldwide are so very long because we simply don't have enough donors coming through.

"There are other patients in ICU who may die, but they will not be considered because they don't meet the criteria."

Any patient who is close to being certified brain dead will be cared for in the ICU.

Before a brain stem test is carried out, the patient must be taken off all sedation and paralysing medication about 24 hours before. And while the test is carried out, a family member and a nurse must be present with the doctor.

If the patient is pronounced brain dead, only then can the family be officially asked if they would like their loved one's organs to be removed for transplant.

But Mrs..... Daniels said, when a family was in emotional trauma, having been told there is no hope for their relative, it is often the worst time to start thinking about organ donation.

That is why she said everyone should talk to their family about it now.

Last year in Bermuda there were three cases where donation could be considered, but only two families agreed to organ removal.

The nurse said once the decision has been made by the family for donation, then the ICU makes urgent contact with the New England Organ Bank and the wheels are set in motion.

Two coordinators from New England immediately come to Bermuda to begin the process.

The Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is contacted and the most suitable recipients are then found.

Medical teams in those locations are then dispatched.

The body is preserved and kept alive for as long as possible by the hospital until transplant surgeons arrive from overseas, but sometimes, even with the maximum medication and 100 percent oxygen, the organs can stop working.

In those cases, some organ removal may not go ahead as the organs have lost some of their integrity.

For heart and lungs, provided, the patient managed to stay technically alive, surgeons have just four hours to remove and transplant the organs.

For kidneys, surgeons have 72 hours to work with, and for all other organs it is just 24 hours.

So timing and teamwork is paramount.

Prior to 1974, no patient in Bermuda had their heart removed because back then the time span was even shorter and it was not physically possible to transport it overseas for transplant.

However, nowadays, with high-powered jets that fly purposely to the Island, they can get them back to the US in time.

And Mrs. Daniels said members of the public should not believe that organ donation is a simple procedure that is carried out by Bermuda surgeons alone.

"A number of surgical teams will travel to Bermuda independently on Lear jets, depending on how many organs will be removed and donated," said Mrs. Daniels.

"Sometimes there can be five, six or seven jets at the airport waiting to take the organs back.

"They (surgeons) will simply remove the organ or tissue they need and leave, allowing another team to take the part they require.

"Throughout, there is constant communication between the team here and the New England Organ Bank team in Boston.

"Everybody is on standby waiting for the organs to arrive in the US."

After that, the rest, as they say, is history.

The organs are transplanted, in most cases, with great success, and the recipient begins to rebuild his or her life.

And for the family in Bermuda, they, too, have to rebuild their lives after the trauma of losing someone.

But Mrs, Daniels said she hoped they gained much comfort from the knowledge that although they lost a loved one, a number of other people have been give a chance of life, or an improved life.

And to help them through their grieving, the New England Organ Bank will write to the family and give them brief information about the people who received each of the organs.

After a while, they will receive a second letter saying how they are doing. After that, if either the recipient or the donor's family wishes to make contact, they must do so through the organ bank. And, only if both parties agree, will a meeting be arranged.

Mrs Daniel's added: "Donation does help grieving families. That may be difficult to understand, but it is true. We have seen it so many times.

"They feel that it allowed something positive to come out of death. A part of their loved one is still living on."