Opinion: New organ donation rules are unfair to families
The longest 10 minutes of my life are those I spend watching for any small chest movement as we remove a patient from a breathing machine.
Key points
- I watched Hailey’s chest without pause, searching for the slightest movement, a tiny intake of breath, any sign of life.
- I was performing an apnea test, the final step in determining whether she had died by neurological criteria.
- It’s part of my job as a neurointensivist at Oregon Health & Science University.
She lay before me in our neuroscience intensive care unit, her heart beating steadily, her skin warm, a ventilator breathing for her.
Hailey (not her real name) was 22 years old, a college student who had suffered a catastrophic brain injury in a traffic accident.
Additional details
- Hailey never took a breath; she was brain dead.
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