Donation after cardiocirculatory death in Canada

Abstract

with neurologic determination of death; 4 Medical Management to Maximize Donor Organ Potential, held in February 2004, developed guidelines and standards that will enable Canadian health professionals to improve organ donor management and the use of organs from consenting donors. s the next step in this strategy, on Feb. 17-20, 2005, the CCDT Donation Committee convened a third Canadian forum, Donation after Cardiocirculatory Death. The focus of this forum was to initiate a national multistakeholder discussion to inform and guide health care professionals involved in developing programs for DCD. For the purposes of this forum, the concept of organ and tissue donation after death was accepted, as it is a reflection of current practice. Discussion at the forum was restricted to optimal and safe practice in the field as it pertains to DCD. The recommendations in this report promote patient-care-based principles for providing the option of donation within a sound ethical framework and provide guidance to individual programs in developing parameters for safe practice in this field.