Originally Posted by kindaquazie
Hi,
We do this procedure at my hospital and it is very difficult and very rewarding. The process is usually initiated by the family members. For instance, there is no hope for Jane Doe to ever recover and she needs agressive life support. However, she did not advance to brain death for a variety of reasons. The family has decided to withdraw support, and the patient will likely die within minutes as she is requiring ventilatory support and pressors. However, she is not brain dead and therefore cannot be an organ donor as she had wished. The family is devestated. But, there is a ray of hope to bring meaning to the death of this young girl, DCD. The family is grateful, the organs are donated, and several other people get to lead much better lives.
Each case should be followed by a debriefing for those involved. Each case is extremely individual. But for families, it is a blessing. Can you imagine praying one day for your son to live, and the next that his brain will herniate so he can be an organ donor. This gives families a real sense of meaning when it is time to withdraw support.
This is also done at my hospital just as kindaquazie described. I don't have a problem with it and would want my family to do this if I weren't technically brain-dead.
Would you like to comment?
