Organ Donation

Organ donation is a rare opportunity since organs must be supplied with blood and oxygen until the time of recovery to ensure viability. This requires a very specific set of circumstances where a person is "on life support" but has experienced an irreparable neurological brain injury that prevents the possibility of recovery.

Only after all efforts to save the patient’s life have been exhausted, tests are performed to confirm the absence of brain or brain stem activity, and brain death has been declared, is donation a possibility.

The hospital staff then notifies LifeCenter Northwest and Life Alaska so that the patient may be considered to become an organ donor.