- Deceased donors

- Donors in a brain-dead state:

These are deceased persons whose brain is no longer functional due to a lack of blood flow. This typically occurs as a result of some traumatic event. Common examples include cerebral haemorrhaging, craniocerebral injuries and cerebral oedema following cardiac arrest.

Brain death represents an irreversible failure of all of the brain's functions. Vital functions such as breathing and the flow of blood can be maintained long enough for organs to be removed through artificial respiration and medication. Brain death is diagnosed in accordance with the guidelines of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS) by two specialised doctors who do not belong to the transplantation team (cf. Declaration of death in the context of organ removal, SAMS) [link http://www.samw.ch/]

- Non-heart-beating donors

Non-heart-beating donors die of cardiac arrest. In such cases, it is not possible restart the heart despite resuscitation attempts.
Here, it is not possible to ensure continued blood flow to the organs due to the cardiac arrest. Accordingly, the organs must be removed very quickly. It is primarily the kidneys which are removed from non-heart-beating donors. Outside of Switzerland, livers, lungs and the pancreas are also transplanted in some cases from non-heart-beating donors.

As is the case with living donors, these donors and the recipients remain anonymous.