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airdvr

Organ donation :/

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I've never dealt with this issue before. Friend's 30 yo son severely injured in an accident. On life support brain dead. He is an organ donor.

The hospital has so mis-handled this situation I'm wondering how often that happens. I'm not privy to all of the details but 2nd hand I heard a story where the representative from LifeBank was explaining in graphic detail to the boys mother how the organs will be harvested. Specifically 'we'll roll him over and take the skin from his back.' etc... Somehow I don't think that leel of detail is necessary or helpful.

Anyone else ever dealt with this? Can't even begin to imagine what it would be like if it were me.
Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

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My husband was with a friend's family as they dealt with that. They were told that they could not be with him at the moment of death if they elected to do organ donation. I'm not sure of what additional details were given, but they decided to be with him as he died.

Yes, they knew that he had no awareness. But it's a powerful desire.

I'd agree with the "full disclosure" thing. And maybe the representative was trying to make it clear that the person would not be disfigured.

People, if you want your organs donated, make it VERY CLEAR to your families; that way they can be certain they are carrying out your wishes. That, too, is a powerful motivator.

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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My husband was with a friend's family as they dealt with that. They were told that they could not be with him at the moment of death if they elected to do organ donation. I'm not sure of what additional details were given, but they decided to be with him as he died.

Wow, I never knew that. Talk about a conflict.[:/]

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That's the other issue. I don't think anyone has told her what the timeline is. She's basically in limbo watching her son's chest rise and fall hoping against hope that a miracle would occur. He's already been declared dead.

I'm willing to bet the disclosure of technique has something to do with being sued. If that's not the case this person needs to find a new line of work.
Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

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Hi Wendy,

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People, if you want your organs donated, make it VERY CLEAR to your families; that way they can be certain they are carrying out your wishes.



It was probably about 1970 or so that Oregon made the change that allows us to have a 'D' on our Driver's License which means we are an organ donor ( no, it is not my jumping license number :S ).

As soon as I could, I did the necessary paperwork to have a 'D' put on my Driver's License.

A few years ago I found out, that in Oregon, the family can over-ride my wishes and not allow my organs to be donated.

Yes, I have had a TALK with my kids about what they WILL and WILL NOT do.

JerryBaumchen

PS) I am a firm believer that if you have not made the necessary effort to be an organ donor then you should not be able to receive organ donations.

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In most states the average age to get your license for the first time is 16yrs old. Do you honestly think a 16yr old has the grasp on what organ donations really entails? Then, do you think person who has been sick their whole life should not be able to receive one? If a person who has health issues is not a candidate to be an organ donor.

There are many children who develop diabetes and go into kidney failure and or born with heart disease. Should they not receive an organ donation if one is available? Should a person who does not drive and is 40yrs old burned badly and needs skin graphs/transplants be denied?

I think you are way out there with the " if you are not a organ donor you shouldn't receive one" :S

TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

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I've since heard that it's not always done that way. That would be a toughie, though.

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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Perhaps the mother was unaware of the extent of their intended harvesting, specifically as it would affect an open casket? Or the team gets hit with that question/concern often (such as with skin and eyes), so they address it proactively. Just a couple possibilities.
See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus

Shut Up & Jump!

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I prepped for my current (brand new, hooray!) job as a flight nurse by spending a few years working in a Trauma ICU. We saw a lot of donation cases. It is a powerfully touching process. Although little can slake the grief of a family suffering such a loss, the magnitude of the gift never failed to impress me DEEPLY.

Regarding "who makes the call": I don't ever recall a donation taking place without consent from the family. Nobody ever said "I'm sorry ma'am but there's a "D" on his license, we're taking everything." Next of kin (or power of attorney, if applicable) make the call, as they do in most care decisions for an incapacitated patient. So, if you are adamantly for or against donation, make sure your family knows, because they'll be the ones making the decision.

Remember that there are many reasons you or a loved one may not be able to be donors: sepsis and a past history of cancer are two prime examples.

If you ever find yourself in the unfortunate position of being someone making such decisions (whether or not to have a loved one be an organ donor) PLEASE don't be put off if it seems like the medical personnel are bringing up the subject too early: it is a time-sensitive process and while they don't want to rush you to make a decision, time is of the essence.

Regarding another post upstream: As I understood it, the issue with not being able to be with their loved ones "when they passed" relates to the fact that we as a society associate "death" with the cessation of heart function. In a donation case, it would take too long after the stopping of the heart to get the patient down to the OR and ready for the donation process.

I've gone back and deleted several sections of text because I keep getting what I feel is too technical for such a forum: I don't want to gross anyone out or seem dispassionate. Please feel free to PM me if you have any particular questions. I'll just say that the process of organ donation is a miracle in itself: that the tragic loss of one family can save the lives of so many others is a silver lining to an otherwise terrible moment in time.

Elvisio "please talk with your families" Rodriguez

My most memorable donation story: we lost a patient in our unit, a patient who died WAY too young from brain death due to a traffic accident. The family agreed to allow their loved one to be an organ donor. The patient was wheeled down to the OR for the process. Several hours later, the next patient to be put in the SAME ROOM the donor had left was a patient who had just received a liver transplant. Although nobody could ever confirm it due to patient confidentiality concerns, the timeline of the events and a couple knowing nods from the transplant team let us know this patient's new liver had come from the donor who was just in that same room. So, on that day we got to see a terrible ending and a new beginning in the same room. PLEASE consider organ donation.

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Hmm.. My message is gone - perhaps not as tactful as it should have been.. Apologies if my views offended anybody - really wasn't the intent [:/]

But just wanted to make the point that you can give clear instructions about your wishes to your family without being a confirmed donor (ie: having a "D" on your licence).

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse."
- Chris Hadfield
« Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. »
- my boss

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Where I'm from, everybody is pretty much automatically a donor. They way it works is, if a person is suitable for becoming a donor they're are assumed to have wanted to become a donor, unless its known that they didn't want to be a donor. Before a donation is made the doctor is responsible in trying to find out, within reasonable amount of effort, what the wishes of the deceased were. If for instance they don't have a donor card, their family is asked about whether they'd denied having their organs harvested or not. If no reliable conclusion is reached, in the time available for a organ donation, about whether the person wanted to have their organs donated, they're assumed to have wanted it and their organs are harvested.

So essentially getting a organ donation card around here will only ensure some doc's day will go by slightly smoother.
Your rights end where my feelings begin.

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Perhaps the organs that the group was most interested in needed to be taken as quickly as possible at the time of death so as to actually have usable organ. Then again you would think the family would be clearly informed on why certain actions needed to be done in that type of fashion. I'm thinking perhaps there may be some miscommunication going on here.
"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

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Organ donation can be a tricky thing; overall, it is an amazing thing that helps the life of someone who is in need.

However, there are cases where I've heard that when the hospital and surgeons discovered a severely injured patient was an organ donor, they may have not tried as hard as they could to keep the person alive. I know this has happened in teaching hospitals and hospitals that are trying to get accredited for certain types of transplants. I watched a case where a woman was hit by a car and was brain damaged...they were trying to find the identity of the woman (she was an unknown female), but in the meantime the transplant surgeons were getting prepared to set her up for a harvest, and it seemed like they were hungry for some transplant surgeries.

I am an organ donor, but it scares me because I don't want to be short changed if I get into an accident. If I am beyond saving, I hope that my organs will save another. But I want my doctors to do everything they damn well can to save me before that happens, and sadly, this does not happen all the time.
And for the record: the appropriate ranking of cool modes of transportation is jet pack, hover board, transporter, Batmobile, and THEN giant ant.
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However, there are cases where I've heard that when the hospital and surgeons discovered a severely injured patient was an organ donor, they may have not tried as hard as they could to keep the person alive. I know this has happened in teaching hospitals and hospitals that are trying to get accredited for certain types of transplants. I watched a case where a woman was hit by a car and was brain damaged...they were trying to find the identity of the woman (she was an unknown female), but in the meantime the transplant surgeons were getting prepared to set her up for a harvest, and it seemed like they were hungry for some transplant surgeries.

I am an organ donor, but it scares me because I don't want to be short changed if I get into an accident. If I am beyond saving, I hope that my organs will save another. But I want my doctors to do everything they damn well can to save me before that happens, and sadly, this does not happen all the time.



Was this in the U.S.? One thing to keep in mind is that an organ harvest doesn't just happen in an hour. Watching the donation team in my old ICU it was just about a 24 hour MINIMUM to gather all the blood and tissue samples necessary for typing, and then to complete all the necessary typing. For example, one step is to collect a number of lymph nodes to help with the typing process, a minor surgical procedure that typically occurs at the bedside. It's MUCH more involved than just a blood type and screen. And, given that the U.S. is an "opt in" donation system, there cannot be a harvest without consent. If a patient is incapacitated (i.e. brain dead) and there is no family to consent to the procedure, the harvest wouldn't happen.

I think the fear of being "rushed" off to an organ donation just because you couldn't make your own decisions and your family hadn't made it to the hospital is misspent. As I said above, just because there is a "D" on your driver's license doesn't make you a donor.

Elvisio "talk to your families" Rodriguez

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