Process of organ donation

The Organ Donation process involves the following steps:

   * Donor referral : when a patient is about to die, the hospital's representative requests confidential information from the Organ Donor Network to find out if the patient is a potential donor

   * Medical evaluation : a transplant coordinator analyzes the medical suitability of the organ of the potential donor, interviews the next of kin and completes a medical and social questionnaire about the potential donor

   * Declaration of death : Declaration of death is performed by the donor's physician and is the official time of death. Death of a patient is determined when there is an absence of cardiovascular and respiratory functions or when there is an absence of all brain function, including lack of function of the brain stem. Physicians make the determination of death based on standard medical practice.

   * Consent for Organ Donation : The transplant coordinator or family services coordinator meets with the potential donor's next of kin, or other authorized party, to offer the opportunity for donation. This conversation is carefully timed and only takes place after the next of kin is given time to understand their loved one is brain dead. Detailed information is provided about the organ donation process including which organs and/or tissues may be donated, how and when the recovery will take place, testing that will be required to determine the medical suitability of the donations, and how the organs and/or tissues will be distributed to the patients needing transplants. After making the decision to donate, the next of kin will be asked to sign a consent form documenting which organs and/or tissues they wish to donate.

   * Medical Examiner/Coroner : a transplant coordinator must confirm from the Medical Examiner/Coroner whether the death is under jurisdiction

   * Organ Allocation and Recipient Identification : the available organ is allocated as per the degree of match, medical urgency and time waiting. The transplant surgeon finalizes regarding whether the recipient is a proper match.

Specific information about each donor, including his or her blood type and body size, are entered into the national computer system. An individualized list is generated for each donor that identifies patients who match for those particular organs. There is a different list generated for each and every donor. Each available organ is allocated according to medical urgency, degree of match to the donor and time waiting.

   * Organ recovery : the transplant coordinator oversees the work of the surgical recovery team consisting of surgeons, nurses, the transplant coordinator and an organ preservation technician

   * Organ preservation : It is important to transport the organs from the donor to each intended recipient as quickly as possible. Hearts and lungs must be transplanted within approximately 4 hours after being removed from the donor. Livers can be preserved between 12 - 18 hours; pancreas can be preserved 8 - 12 hours; intestines can be preserved approximately 8 hours; kidneys can be preserved 24 - 48 hours.

   * Donor family follow-up : letters are sent to the donor's family, relevant doctors and nurses regarding the outcome of the donation

   * Costs : all the expenses are billed to the Organ Donor Network which is reimbursed by the recipient's transplant hospital which is further reimbursed by the recipient's insurance company or Medicare

Whole Body Donation:

The complete body may be donated for the purpose of medical education and research. The Organ Donor Network can facilitate donation to a research institution, but only after the organ has been turned down as a potential organ donation, for example, for medical reasons.

On occasion, various research institutes request specific organs for research and then the Donor Network will request that specific organ from donor families.

   - The Donation Process

   - After the Donation