Donation after Cardiac Death
Donation after cardiac death (DCD) can happen when your loved one has suffered a non-survivable, irreversible brain injury or has a chronic, irreversible condition where death may occur shortly after discontinuing mechanical support, and you and your family have decided that the best course is to withdraw that support.
Patients who are disconnected from mechanical support may experience a period of time when there is a lack of oxygen before the heart stops and death is pronounced. Death must be pronounced by an attending physician who is not a member of the organ recovery or transplant teams. If death occurs within one hour after disconnection from mechanical support, the individual can become an organ donor. Only after the patient’s heart stops beating and is declared dead can organ donation after cardiac death occur.
