Posthumous Organ Donation

A 36-year-old banker has a passion for motorbikes. One winter evening when he is traveling back from a conference down the M1, his bike skids on a patch of black ice. He was driving at 90 mph. He hits the windscreen of an oncoming car and his helmet splits in half. An ambulance arrives at the scene within minutes and Mike is intubated and rushed to hospital. He has sustained severe injuries – he has fractured his pelvis and several vertebrae. At the hospital he is assessed on the intensive care unit. Attempts to resuscitate him are unsuccessful, and when he is weaned off the ventilator, he does not make any respiratory effort. Tests performed by two different consultants confirm that he has had massive brainstem injuries, and he is declared brainstem dead despite the ventilator continuing to keep his heart and lungs working and consequently the rest of his organs perfused. He is registered on the national organ donation database and was carrying an organ donor card on him. It is decided to keep him ventilated until his next of kin are traced and contacted, so that his wish to donate his organs can be discussed with them.

• How can someone donate his or her organs after death?
• Can the next of kin prevent organ donation?

Apply Theory (Specific Professional Healthcare Competencies + Clinical Medical Ethical Principles) to Practice in order to provide Optimal Patient-Centered Care (OPCC)

Clinical Ethics and Law, Second edition. Carolyn Johnston, Penelope Bradbury, Series editor: Janice Ryme