The organ donor crisis: the missed organ donor potential from the accident and emergency departments

Abstract

The critical shortage of cadaveric donor organs for transplant purposes is a worldwide concern. The disparity between the number of cadaveric organs donated for transplant purposes and those patients awaiting transplant operations continues to widen. This article reports on the findings of an audit of deaths undertaken in 10 accident and emergency (A&E) departments in North Thames region, UK. The audit itself was borne out of informal anecdotal accounts from colleagues working in the A&E department who suggested that there was a potential pool of organ and tissue donors that were not being realized. The article discusses how those audit findings helped shape the current A&E education strategy in the North Thames region. The result has been that the North Thames region has seen a dramatic increase in the number of referrals from the A&E departments, resulting in solid organ transplantation. Although the results are very encouraging, the program is still very much in its infancy and a long way from the desired 100% referral rate. In order to maximize the number of organs from the potential donor pool, the transplant community needs to focus more attention toward donation from the A&E departments.