How do doctors decide when you are dead, and therefore able to donate your organs?

Question

How are doctors able to determine if you dead, to donate your organs? In the news, it says that the doctors can not use your organs unless you are dead. But how do they know that beyond any doubt? Are they specific tests they use, and how accurate are the tests?

Thanks.

Answer 1

bbz, u look like heather mills >.<

Answer 2

1) Irreversible cessation of all blood circulation

2) Irreversible cessation of all brain activity

If you died and didn't say yes or no for donating organs they will ask the next-of-kin. Usually in order; wife, parents, sibling, your son/daughter. If they can't get in touch with anyone, they'll ask the coroner if the organs are in good condition to be reused.

Usually depending on how intact the body is, they can take everything.

Answer 3

You have to be "brain dead".  They test your brain for activity ... no activity means you are dead. Even in a coma or under drugs, there will be some activity.  

Also, in the USA, the doctors who decide wherher someone is dead or not can not be the same doctors who would do the transplanting ... they are two independent groups.

Answer 4

The rule is brain stem death. With an intact brain stem and nothing else, you will still get responses from the patient to stimuli. Without the brain stem, you get no response.

This is pretty much the working definition of 'death', although transplants will be decided on before this. ie, if the person still has an intact brain stem but no hope of recovering higher brain functions.

Answer 5

It depends on the country you are in. In the UK, you have to be something called 'brainstem dead', in the USA I think it's more about cerebral cortex death. Basically, it all comes down to the fact that your brain is no longer active and therefore none of your normal bodily functions (even the unconscious ones that you do without thinking, such as controlling your heart and breathing) can occur. There are various tests you can do to establish brain death - I only know about the UK ones, but they involve nervous system tests, such as shining light in the eyes to assess the response of the pupil, testing the gag reflex, the dolls-head reflex. I would say they are accurate, because dead people don't have any response to the above, whereas the living do. These tests may be repeated to ensure the results are the same. Of course you also have to exclude the idea that the patient might be in a reversible coma, so there are other tests you do, e.g. rewarming the patient if they have been exposed to extremely low temperature.

Answer 6

It depends on where you die.

If they really need the organs, then "mostly dead" is close enough.

If there is a moderate need, then "nearly dead" will work most of the time.

"Half dead" is never acceptable.

Answer 7

general consensus of two or more doctors, and family, that there is no brain wave activity, and without life support death would come  at once.