Ethical Dilemma or Medical Problem? An Emergency Department Approach to the Brain-Dead Patient and Preservation of the Organ Donor

Abstract

Organ supply is the greatest limitation to organ transplantation nowadays. Among the
factors that can affect organ supply favourably, donor management has received the least attention.
To meet the increased need for transplantable organs, medical staff should develop ways
for optimal recognition of maintenance of donors. With an increased awareness of the problems
and needs of the donor and the application of a rational physiological approach, the supply of
functional organs for transplantation can be boosted. The importance of establishing an acceptable
method of rapidly and accurately determining brain death (BD) in potential donors cannot
be overemphasized. The organ transplantation community has invoked the Uniform Determination
of Death Act to informally establish the “Dead Donor Rule” which states that one can
only retrieve vital organs after the declaration of death.1