Emergency Department: Your Role in Organ Donation

Did you know?

• 14% of all organ donors in the MTN service area were initially referred from the emergency department (ED).

• Referral from the ED is associated with an increased likelihood of organ recovery and increased organs transplanted per donor. 1

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations require hospitals to notify OPOs of all ventilator-dependent patients with severe brain injuries before discontinuing life support measures.

• CMS also requires hospitals to make the referral in a timely manner, which is within 60 minutes (per your hospital policy) of meeting potential organ donor referral triggers.

When a ventilator-dependent patient has a non-survivable diagnosis or a suspected neurological injury, making the referral from the ED enables MTN to respond quickly to determine donation potential, support families and avoid a rushed approach for donation. If the injury is deemed non-survivable, the family may make the decision to move to comfort care before leaving the ED, and care may be decelerated prior to donation evaluation. Early referral and linkage from the ED allows collaboration between the care team, MTN and the family to ensure that organ viability is maintained and no donation opportunity is lost.

1 Miller, Lisabeth D., et al. “Emergency Department Referral for Organ Donation: More Organ Donors and More Organs per Donor.” The American Journal of Surgery, 2014 , pp. 728–734.