Hi, Sadly to say Rosie I know from experience that the person must be on life support , brain dead, which is what our family had or terminal with a short period of time to survive. They are usually in a coma by then. A special crew is called in and someone has to sign to pull the plug and get the organs, etc. It has to be done very quick and by that time they know to who and where they are going. We had a friend who was dying of a heart problem and at the last minute he got a heart. He lived for 17 years after that.He got Cancer then and was gone in 6 months.I talked to him and he was just glad he had had the extra time he had had. I have seen both sides of it. That is why I have it in my wallet so it can be done quickly if I were in an accident. Anyone know where we could look to find the answer? I was just in for pre op check, EKG etc. I bet they could answer this, but i did not think of it then.