What happens after a call

Organ donation is a complicated process with many safeguards in place to care for the potential organ donor. LifeCenter Northwest adheres to strict processes to ensure organs are viable for transplant—and most importantly, to ensure the wishes of the donor are honored and the donor family is cared for.

The following is an overview of the donation process for medical professionals:

  1. Notify LifeCenter Northwest. Call our referral line (1-888-543-3287) as soon as possible—within 30 minutes from the time the patient meets the criteria for imminent death and prior to declaring brain death. All hospitals receiving Medicare reimbursement are required by their COP (Conditions of Participation) to identify and refer all deaths and imminent deaths to the Donor Referral Line.
  2. Declare brain death. Defined as the complete and irreversible loss of brain and brainstem functions. Brain death is death. It is a medically and legally valid declaration of death, and must be documented by the patient’s physician.
  3. Speak with the family. LifeCenter Northwest initiates the discussion of donation and works to meet the family’s needs in every way possible, providing information about the donation process, privacy to think about their decision, and assurance that the best possible care was given to their family member. If the patient has legally documented their intent to donate, LifeCenter will inform the family and support them through the donation process. If the patient’s donation wishes are not documented, every potential donor’s family must be offered the option of donation.
  4. Evaluate organ function. The donor undergoes serological testing, bacterial cultures, and diagnostic testing of the heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, and kidney.
  5. Provide donor management. The medical goals of donor management include maintenance of tissue perfusion and oxygenation, as well as normalization of electrolytes and lab values. Methods include oxygenation, hemodynamic stability, hydration, and medications.
  6. Identify the organ recipients. LifeCenter Northwest works with the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) to consult the national transplant waiting list. Organ distribution and allocation is determined by geographic location, ABO (blood type) match, HLA (tissue type) match, height and weight, how critical an illness is, and time spent on the waiting list.
  7. Recovery of organs. The recovery process takes place at the donor hospital.
  8. Follow up. Hospital staff receives a case debriefing with outcome information. Donor families receive extensive follow-up, including bereavement support and an 18-month minimum after-care program, which often continues years after.

For a more technical step-by-step process flow, including donation process in the event of cardiac death, see these diagrams: