The Importance of Emergency Medicine in Organ Donation: Successful Donation Is More Likely When Potential Donors Are Referred From the Emergency Department

Abstract

Referral of potential organ donors from the ED is associated with an increased likelihood of successful organ retrieval. The authors conclude that further attention and resources should be directed toward the role of emergency medicine (EM) in the organ procurement process, owing to the relatively high likelihood of successful organ retrieval among patients referred from the ED.

Organ and tissue donation‐related attitudes, education and practices of emergency department clinicians in Australia

“…Emergency clinicians are often the primary instigators of donor referral, and the first point of contact for potential donor families. International data suggest that referral of potential organ donors from the ED is associated with an increased likelihood of successful organ retrieval compared with inpatient units 11 . In Australia, this has been recognized as a high priority with the introduction of the GIVE Trigger 9 into Australian EDs, a tool designed to optimize recognition and referral of potential donors.…”

Factors relating to consent for organ donation: prospective data on potential organ donors

“…There was a significant difference in consent rate between hospitals, and further research is needed to assess whether request models may explain these differences. Of note, 13.8% of all potential donors were identified and referred from ED indicating that this is an important site for donor recognition and referral . There was a trend for families of those patients eligible for the DBD pathway to be more likely to consent to donation, and proceed to organ retrieval, in line with data from the UK.…”

“…This may be due to a proportion of planned DCD patients who did not die in the timeframe required for donation to proceed and therefore had a longer length of stay; however, length of stay could also be associated with a range of other variables such as the underlying illness or treatment plan. A US study has previously indicated that longer length of stay increases the likelihood of medical complications prohibiting donation . However, further research needs to be undertaken to assess this in the Australian setting.…”

A helpful approach to organ donation: From end-of-life care to effective organ transplantation

“…[2][3][4][5] Five years ago we implemented a novel approach for organ donation in the ED (Figure 1). This approach is routinely used in patients with acute DBI on admission to the ED.…”