A Swiss ICU is announcing an organ donor. By that time, doctors from the donor hospital have already performed all the clinical and medical examinations of the determination of cerebral death ("lege artis"). They have asked the family for the consent, or they have informed the donors family of the deceased declared intention to donate his organ, as they have found the donor card.

All the required bloodanalysis are either arranged and coordinated through us ( if the donor is located in a Non-Transplant-Center), or through a local Coordinator. If the donor is in a Non-Transplant-Center, the blood needs to be sent to the responsible Transplant-Center. This transport is organised by Swisstransplant and REGA.

The medical staff of the ICU are filling in a special donor-dossier, which includes all the relevant information of the deceased.This dossier contains 6 pages and needs to be faxed and veryfied by Swisstransplant.

Thereafter Swisstransplant is starting the organ-allocation. Until the new law, and it's corresponding new allocationsystem, (becomeing effective by July 1, 2007),we are following a specific rotation in calling all the Transplantcenters and offer them the organs. The patient listed as Super Urgent, has always priority for the organ. Today, even kidney's are first offered to priority patients.

Together with the responsible surgeon, the local coordinator is verifying the offer. They are selecting the most compatible recipient and prescribe, if necessary, further examinations to the donor ( as for example a bronchoscopy, or the like). These requests will be forwarded to the donorhospital.

As far as all the organs have been allocated, we are planning the organextraction together with the donorhospital( when and which extraction-team needs to be at the hospital, do they need any specific material?). The transportation of organs (as f.ex. kidneys), who are travelling alone, are organised by us.

From first call to explantation, it takes 8 to 24 houres to perform a whole organ allocation. After donation, all the relevant data is registered on our computer.

If there is no compatible recipient in Switzerland, the organ will be offered to foreign european allocation-bodies, such as Eurotransplant.

If we get an organ offer from foreign, european countries, we strictly verify the offer. Then we are offering the organ to the Swiss Transplantcenters, are organising the transport as well as time lapses with the local coordinator.

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