Q&A on the News

Q: I am a donor on the Georgia driver’s license. I have also inquired into burial at sea, and may do that. Would they harvest my organs prior to the burial at sea?

—Edward Whiddon, Jonesboro

A: Organs are harvested as quickly as possible after a donor's death. The hospital notifies its local organ procurement organization, or OPO, which sends a representative to the hospital, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' organdonor.gov. Once the donor is confirmed, the OPO representative and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network begin searching for matching recipients while the "condition of each organ is carefully monitored" by hospital staff and the OPO representative.

“Tissue recoveries such as bone, cornea and skin occur after organ recoveries,” the website states. “Organs must get to their new homes very quickly as they can remain healthy only for short periods of time after removal from the donor.”

Q: “Everyone knows the meaning of tomorrow,” is a quote attributed to Secretary of State John Kerry in a March 31 article. What was the meaning of that date, relating to these talks?

—Dennis Withers, Atlanta

A: Midnight on March 31 was the deadline to determine if there was enough determination by six world powers, including the U.S., and Iran to continue talks and work out a final nuclear deal by June 30. The talks extended past the deadline before the countries "agreed on the outlines of an understanding to limit Iran's nuclear programs," the Associated Press reported last week.