I Can't Resuscitate My Patient, but Can He Save Others?

Shortage of organ donors is a worldwide problem. To document the magnitude of the issue in Canada, researchers reviewed charts for all patients aged 18 to 80 who died in intensive care units and emergency departments (EDs) in the four largest hospitals in Alberta over a 3-year period. Patients with HIV, multisystem organ failure, metastatic cancer, degenerative neurological disorders, and refractory hypotension were excluded.

Of 2931 patients who died, 227 (7.7%) were defined as nonreferred for possible organ donation, and of these, 33% died in the ED. The most common causes of death overall were cardiac arrest (39%), intracerebral hemorrhage (16%), and traumatic brain injury (14%). The authors identified 64 patients as candidates for heart-…