California Reports Increase in Volunteer Organ Donors

(WASHINGTON) -- Organ donation registries in 10 states reported as many new volunteer donors Tuesday -- the first day of a new initiative that allowed Facebook users to sign up to become organ donors -- as they typically see in one month. According to statistics from Donate Life America, a nonprofit group partnering with the social network, California alone witnessed a 700-percent increase in the number of volunteers on a typical day.

By Tuesday evening, 100,000 people had declared themselves organ donors on their Facebook profiles, a critical step, physicians said, in speeding the organ donation process because it lets families know their relatives' wishes.

Among those 100,000 users, 10,000 had linked through Facebook to sign up directly with their state organ donation registries. Among the states that reported a significant spike Tuesday in registered donors: Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Wyoming.

Surgeons and transplant advocates have heralded the program, calling the initiative, which allows users to share their decision to donate, a "game changer."

More than 112,000 Americans are awaiting organs, and 18 people die every day from the lack of available organs, according to Donate Life America. Though more than 90 percent of Americans support donation, only 42 percent are registered donors.

Eliminating the waiting list would save the lives of thousands of people who die every year while waiting for viable organs. Furthermore, it could spell the end of dialysis, rendering the procedure in many cases unnecessary if patients could receive new kidneys immediately.

The site allows people looking for an organ to share stories and for recent recipients to share stories as well, said David Flemming, president of Donate Life America.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio