There are many ways to record your decision about organ donation. For children and adolescents who have not yet reached the age of 16, it is the parents, respectively the legal guardians, who make the decision about organ donation. Every person who has reached the age of 16 can decide for him- or herself.
Patient decree
In the free patient decree from DeinAdieu, you can record which medical measures you agree and disagree with for the event that you are no longer able to decide yourself due to an accident or an illness. You can also record your decision regarding organ donation in your patient decree. Deposit your patient decree with a confidant, such as your lawyer, or deposit it with your commune. Share your decision with your relatives so that for the event that you are incapable of judgement, they are not burdened with making the decision for you.
Important: If you decide to donate your organs, but your relatives would be against it, the Swiss Federal Act on the Transplantation of Organs, Tissues and Cells stipulates that the will of the deceased person takes precedence over the will of the relatives. Therefore, from a legal point of view organs can be removed. In Switzerland, however, for ethical and moral reasons, the practice has prevailed that if relatives refuse a donation, no organs are removed. This is precisely why it is all the more important to discuss your decision with your loved ones - that way you can ensure that your will is enforced even after your death
(further information on patient decree).
Organ donor card
You can record your decision regarding organ donation in your donor card and carry it with you or keep it somewhere known to your relatives. You can agree to a donation in general or in a differentiated manner, reject an organ donation in general, or delegate the decision to a confidant. The information in the donation card is not registered, which is why it is safest to put down your decision in a patient decree and to talk to your relatives about organ donation.
National organ donor register Switzerland
The National Foundation for Organ Donation and Transplantation, Swisstransplant, is responsible, in its capacity as National Allocation Office, for the allocation of organs to recipients and is in charge of the corresponding waiting list. You can register at www.swisstransplant.org and record your decision about organ donation using a form.