Registered Donors

Immediately following the donor's death, the family, next of kin, and/or health care provider should call the Ohio State Body Donation Program to confirm the donor's eligibility and to make transportation arrangements at (614) 292-4831, press “0” at the prompt to speak to the answering service.

While efforts to preserve the donor's remains through refrigeration should be taken promptly after death, embalming is not permitted.

(If the proposed donor has received a pre-registration confirmation letter from the Body Donation Program.)

 The caller will be asked a series of four (4) questions to confirm eligibility.

1. Is the deceased a pre-registered donor with Body Donation Program? 
2. Has the deceased donor received their confirmation letter from the Body Donation Program? 
3. Does the donor have any known contagious disease? (The donor had contracted and/or died from any contagious disease including but not limited to: Aspergillosis, Creutzfeldt-Jakob (the human variant of mad-cow disease), Ebola, HIV (AIDS), Hepatitis, Meningitis, SARS, Smallpox, Tuberculosis (TB), MRSA and Clostridium difficile, etc.)
4. Is the donor between 80-215 pounds and have a body mass index between 16 and 33? (Weight and body mass index factors: Donor must weigh 80 to 215 pounds and have a body mass index between 16 and 33. If the donor's remains weigh less than 80 pounds, or more than 215 pounds; or the remains have a body mass index less than 16 or greater than 33, then the remains are not eligible for confirmation.)

Confirmation of eligibility is required even though all of the donor's paperwork may have been completed and accepted by the Body Donation Program, and/or the donor may have been registered and/or prequalified before death. Circumstances often exist whether before, at, and/or subsequent to death which prohibit confirmation of eligibility and transportation of a donor's remains to the Body Donation Program.

If all four questions are responded to adequately, another series of questions will be asked:

• Caller's name, date, time and phone number of caller
• Deceased full name
• Date of Birth
• Date of Death
• Time of Death
• Social Security Number
• Location of body: Name of institution and/or full address. 
• Doctor's information signing death certificate (Name, address of office and phone number with area code)
• Next of kin information [Full name, relationship to deceased, address and phone number]

Once the information is collected, you will be informed that a representative will call with an estimated time of arrival and confirm the death location/address.

**If ALL four questions are NOT responded to adequately, refer to Steps 1 and 2 on the unregistered donors page.

After eligibility of the donor's remains is confirmed by the Ohio State Body Donation Program, the Program will coordinate transportation.

*Note: The Ohio State Body Donation Program will only be responsible for the costs contracted by the program including: transporting the donor's remains to the Body Donation Program; death certificate preparation fees; and cremation of the remains. Additionally, cremains will either be returned as designated on the bequeathal forms or interred in the mausoleum at the Silent Home Cemetery (1576 Lancaster Ave., Reynoldsburg, OH 43068) at no cost to the family. Any other desired supplemental services, including memorial service(s), obituary notices, burial of the cremains and/or placement in a private niche, and/or certified copies of the death certificate from the Ohio Department of Health are at the expense of the donor's family and/or the donor's estate and should be arranged with any funeral services provider.