A. Wellesley et al., ORGAN DONATION IN THE ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT - A STUDY OF RELATIVES VIEWS, Journal of accident & emergency medicine, 14(1), 1997, pp. 24-25
Objective-To determine whether recently bereaved people would object t
o being asked about organ donation immediately after the death of thei
r relative. Methods-A telephone interview of 78 recently bereaved rela
tives of people who had died in an inner city accident and emergency (
A&E) department; 68 (87%) agreed to participate in the study and were
sent a questionnaire. Outcome measures were views on being asked about
organ donation in the A&E department immediately after the death of a
relative and knowledge of the possibility for organ donation in A&E a
fter a sudden death. Results-37 questionnaires were returned: 27 (72.9
%) of those who responded would not have minded being asked, five woul
d have minded, and five did not know or did not fill in the questionna
ire; 29 were aware that organs could be donated following a death in A
&E. Only six people had discussed organ donation before the bereavemen
t. Only two of the people who died and seven of their relatives carrie
d a donor card. Sixteen had heard about the NHS donor register. Conclu
sions-Most those responding would not have minded being asked about or
gan donation following a sudden death. More education is needed in two
main areas: (1) to raise public awareness about the shortage of donor
organs; (2) to improve the medical and nursing confidence in discussi
ng these difficult issues sensitively but more openly and frequently.