Dr C Mills & Mr D Hurrell, 2016; reviewed and updated by Mr C Sloan, 2018

Organ and Tissue Donation

Bendigo health supports organ and tissue donation as a means of saving and changing people’s lives. Bendigo Health’s Nurse Donation Specialist (contact via switchboard) works with all staff to promote organ and tissue donation ad is available to provide education about donation of organs and tissues.

Click here for:  Medical Management of the Organ Donor

Organ Donation

All patients undergoing End of Life Care (EOLC) in the ICU regardless of age, presenting illness, comorbidities etc. are to be routinely referred to DonateLife for medical suitability assessment for organ donation and to ascertain if they are registered on the Australian Organ Donor Register (AODR). This has the following benefits:
  • If we refer everybody we don't forget anybody
  • Decisions regarding organ suitability are made in conjunction with experts in the donation/transplantation field
  • At BH we are unaware of urgent organ listings that DonateLife will be aware of
  • There has been an increase in the use of “marginal” organs
  • It enables an informed EOL conversation with family regarding organ donation
  • It normalizes organ donation in EOLC
  • It provides a greater pool of donors utilizing the donation after circulatory death pathway
 
This process doesn’t apply to those patients who die despite active treatment, e.g. those being resuscitated.

The referral to DonateLife is to be made prior to the EOLC with the family.  If the patient is deemed medically suitable to become an organ donor, the intensivist with the support of the Nurse Donation Specialist, where available, will explain the process of organ donation with the family, including obtaining consent. 

Who do I contact for further information/facilitate donation?    
  • DonateLife 9347 0408
  • Nurse Donation Specialist (via Switchboard) or Duty Intensivist
The 24 hour referral number when contacting DonateLife is: 
9347 0408
Do not ring the office number and leave a message especially out of hours as this will not be answered until the office reopens.

Tissue Donation

​Who might be considered as a tissue donor?
Any hospital patient who is dying or dead who has expressed a donation wish.
​Who do I contact for further information/facilitate donation?
Tissue Bank (03 9684 4444)
Tissue donation may also occur after the death of a person pending specific acceptance criteria.  Tissue donors (skin, musculo-skeletal and cardiac tissue) will need to be transferred within approximately 12 hours of death to the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) in Southbank Melbourne, which incorporates the Victorian Tissue Bank. A full post-mortem examination is required for the exclusion of silent disease in the donor.
Tissue retrieval must occur within 24 hours of death. Therefore, if a person has expressed a wish to become a tissue donor, either directly or through their family, please contact the Tissue Bank on (03) 9684 4444 as soon as possible for advice on how to facilitate and expedite this process. Any patient who has expressed a wish to be an organ or tissue donor should be referred to the Tissue Bank.

Cornea Donation

Who might be considered for cornea donation?
All dying or dead patients who have expressed a donation wish.
Who should I contact for more information/facilitate donation?
Nurse Donation Specialist or Lion's Eye Donation Service (0408 370 148)
Donation of eye tissue, particularly corneas, can occur in a broader group of people than organ or tissue donation.  All people over the age of 2 years can potentially donate their corneas after death and this tissue will be retrieved locally.  Contact the Nurse Donation Specialist or the Lion’s Eye Donation Service on 0408 370 148 for advice. Any patient who has expressed a wish to be an organ or tissue donor should be referred to the Lions Eye Donation Service.
PROMPT documents: (for offsite access go to the external PROMPT link under CLINICAL)
Other relevant documents: