Proper Donor Management and Patient Care

It is important to preserve the option for donation by continuing good medical management and care of all patients.

There are many procedures that both OPOs and hospital staff must follow to preserve the option for organs, eyes, and tissue donation. 

Proper organ preservation techniques must be followed in order to maximize donor potential. Clinicians may refer to these organ preservation guidelines to learn more about best practices in organ preservation.
Eye care is a good policy regardless of donation. If death is pending (i.e. imminent death/potential organ donor) and the patient is likely to donate corneas, then it is important to follow best practices. FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR CORE’S EYE CARE BEST PRACTICE CHECKLIST.
Ice and refrigeration are important for tissue donation. If the body is chilled within 12 hours of death, usually tissue can still be recovered for up to 24 hours. In addition, after tissue is recovered it is packaged in sterile containers and placed on wet ice for transport to tissue processors.

It is important to preserve the option for donation by following procedures to preserve the option for organs, eyes, and tissue donation.