There appears to be a couple of tests doctors current use....
Confirming Brain Death
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Many physicians request additional, confirmatory tests before pronouncing brain death. The two most common are the electroencephalogram (EEG) and the cerebral blood flow (CBF) study.
Once a patient fulfills this medical criterion, nothing can be done for the patient. The patient can still be maintained physiologically on the ventilator, but there is no hope of any kind of recovery, even to a state of irreversible coma
Families of a brain dead patient must, by federal regulations, be provided the option of organ donation. If the family consents, the regional organ procurement organization is involved. If the family refuses, the mechanical ventilator, medications and fluids are discontinued, after which the heart stops
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/human-biology/brain-death5.htm
Hi,
Not so in California - if I read you correctly, you say that once a family has been approached for organs - if they refuse - their family member would no longer be provided with life-giving care...THIS IS JUST NOT TRUE. Healthcare professionals in Cali allow for the fact that some people can recover from devastating brain trauma. We aggressively rehab our head injury patients...It is up to the family to decide if they wish to allow their loved one to pass on...or if they want to have care and rehabilitation considered. Most go for the Rehab, and today, many of these patients recover. They may not function at the level they did pre-injury-but the family and the patient have gone on to lead fulfilling lives. You would be amazed...
My 2C
I wonder if the article was just worded improperly, by the author and they meant, if the family agrees, life support devices can then be turned off and the patients heart will stop. Actually, if the patient was ventilator dependent, they would not breath from the time they are taken off the ventilator, or just take a few gasping breaths.) Often the heart stopping is in a response to the patient not breathing. The lack of oxygen is what allows death, the heart stops beating after that.
In the first or second thread, we discussed brain death and how it is determined. At that time I questioned the speed in which the diagnosis was made. With any severe injury to the brain, there is always swelling that can mask the results of tests. As stated above, the EEG is the best study to truly diagnose brain death. A functional brain is constantly emitting neurons, pulses, lines fluctuating on an EEG. A non functioning, "brain dead" brain is a straight line, with only minor variations, due to the respirator etc.
The reason I talk about this again, is the speed in which it was decided to remove Maxie from the life support equipment and donate his organs. Even a family with a strong medical base of knowledge holds out hope, that there is a mistake, that it is too soon to really know, that their child may be that miracle that proves science wrong.
There is also the fact that the brain is not an entity that is totally understood.
There are so many variables to what happens in a brain. I had a patient with 'locked in syndrome' once, Karen Anne Quinlan was declared brain dead, her husband petitioned and got a court order allowing her to be removed from the ventilator, guess what, she lived a heck of a long time.
There are also the cases where there is no recovery what so ever. That usually takes time to comprehend and process. Especially with a six year old child.
DS and JS made, what I am sure, was a very difficult decision. I am just beyond shocked that it was made so quickly and that it was determined so quickly that the prognosis constituted that decision. Not placing any blame, or saying that the decision shouldn't have been made, just shocked, after 19 years in nursing, that these parents were able to move to that place at that speed.