Body Donation
Procedure for the reception and transfer of a body which has been bequeathed
On the death of the donor
1. If death occurs during working hours, Sunday – Thursday, the donor’s relative/close friend should inform the Department of Anatomy, Tel. 6409866, 640851, 6409479, Fax 03-6408287, Email: cheloz@post.tau.ac.il
2. If death occurs in the donor’s home when the University is closed, the donor's family/friend should arrange for the body to be taken to a cold-storage facility designated for such a purpose, or to a pathological institute in a hospital which handles such storage, close to where the death occurred.
3. If death occurs in a hospital, the donor’s relative/close friend should inform the person responsible at the hospital that the body has been bequeathed to science (to Tel Aviv University, Medical School) and that, until the University has been informed of the death, the body should remain at the hospital.
4. On the first working day after the death of the donor, the donor’s relative/close friend should inform the Department of Anatomy. The hospital will not undertake to do this.
5. When the Department of Anatomy has been informed of the death, it will make arrangements for the transfer of the body to the University by ambulance, the cost being borne by the University.
6. When the body is passed to the keeping of the University, three copies of the "Death Certificate", ((הודעת פטירה signed by the doctor who has determined the cause of death, or the "Burial Permit"(רישיון קבורה), will be given to the University.
If death occurs in a hospital, and the hospital is not authorized to issue a "Burial Permit", ((רישיון קבורה the Department of Anatomy will deliver the "Death Certificate" and the form covering the bequeathing of the body, to the Ministry of Health. The Department of Anatomy will obtain a "Burial Permit." The "Burial Permit" will be kept in the Department of Anatomy until the research on the donor's body has been completed.
7. A relative who wishes to obtain the "Teudat Petira" (תעודת פטירה) should apply to the nearest office of the Ministry of the Interior approximately two weeks after the death of the donor. Further details are obtainable from the information centre of the Ministry of the Interior, Tel. *3450, 02-629 4666, or 12223450. The Department of Anatomy is not able to obtain such an official form of "Teudat Petira".
8. If death occurs outside Israel, Tel Aviv University will not arrange for the transfer of the body to Israel. It will collect the body from an Israeli port after the body has been brought through Customs and all administrative arrangements have been attended to.
9. The family will not be able to view or check the body after it has been transferred to the Department of Anatomy at the Sackler Medical School, Tel Aviv University.
