News & Events: Media Releases

First organ donation handled with care at St George Private

NOVEMBER 2006

Recently the family of a patient thanked the team at St George Private Hospital for their sensitivity and compassion for enabling them to donate their mother’s organs when it was clear that she would not recover from her critical condition.

The patient had undergone a 13 hour major surgical procedure. She was admitted to ICU where her condition remained grave and her family were informed that she would not survive.

The following morning, Intensivist Dr Alan McKeag and ICU NUM Fran Mac Donald
spoke with the family who confirmed that organ donation was what their mother would have wanted. All tests were completed to confirm organ donation was viable.

The Organ Donation Unit at the Red Cross counselled the family and organised for their transplant medical team to perform the retrieval on site at St George.

As this was the first organ donation at the Hospital, and the staff had become closely involved with the patient and her family, many were dedicated to seeing this process through with the family and the Organ Donation team.

Anaesthetist Dr Michael Cooper volunteered his time and staff stayed back well into the early hours of the following morning when the process was completed.

This experience was a positive for the family, the surgical team and nursing staff as all involved felt that the patient’s life was not and a great deal of consolation was gained by the family from their generous act.

The family were most grateful to the staff at St George Private and the Red Cross for the dignified way in their mother’s wishes were fulfilled.