A workshop on intensive care of the brain dead multi-organ donor was held on June 11, 2000 at Sundaram Medical Foundation, Anna Nagar, Chennai. The Chennai chapter of the Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine and MOHAN Foundation jointly organized the workshop. The course co-coordinator was Dr. Ram E. Rajagopalan, Department of Critical Care Medicine, and Sundaram Medical Foundation. The need for such a workshop was felt because many intensivists and ICU nurses are uncomfortable about the legal definitions of brain death. Many of them have had no formal instruction related to the recognition and management of brain death organ donor. Since the ICU is the only source for “beating heart donors” it is crucial that intensive care staff take a greater interest in this process. About fifty people participated in the workshop. The programme included a talk on the concept of brain death, discussion of a protocol for the evaluation of brain death, identification of problems that arose while supporting the brain dead organ donor. The role of a transplant co-ordinator as well as the all-important “Transplantation of Human Organs Act-1994” was also dealt with by the speakers. There was a lively panel discussion at the end of the programme with regard to the practical concerns in organ donation. The legal and logistical aspects of organ retrieval in India were also discussed. The distinguished faculty comprised of Dr. Vijayalakshmi Kamat, Dept. Of Anaesthesiology & Medical Director, SRMC, Dr. K. Ganapathy, Consultant Neurosurgeon, SMF & Apollo Hospitals, Dr.Ram E. Rajagopalan, consultant intensivists , SMF , Dr. Suchitra Ranjit, Pediatric Intensivists. Kanchi Kamakoti Chid’s Trust Hospital, Dr. Subha Rao, Consultant Nephrologists, Apollo Hospital, Dr. R. Dilip, Consultant Nephrologist, SMF, and Dr. Sunil Shroff, Dept of Urology, SRMC & MOHAN Foundation, Chennai.

 The workshop not only served as a good introduction for the ICU nurse and physician trainee but also provided an excellent platform for the mature discussion of he experienced intensivist.