Indian Transplant Newsletter Vol. III Issue NO.: 8 (February 2001)
Print ISSN 0972 - 1568

Witnessing brain death tests cold help families cope



Print ISSN 0972 - 1568
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Allowing relatives to witness tests to confirm a loved one is brain dead may help them to cope with their loss, doctors and nurses said in London, U.K. Despite explanations form medical staff,      families often find it difficult to accept that a relative who is still warm with no apparent injuries and breathing with the help of a ventilator can be brain dead. A survey of nearly 100 intensive care doctors who deal with brain dead patients shows that 69 percent believed witnessing the tests for brain death would be helpful for relatives.

 

“Two-thirds of consultants and nurses who had previous experience of relatives had benefited from this,” Dr.Stephen Bonner said in a report in the British medical Journal. The intensive care specialist at south Cleveland hospital in Middleborough, northern England and his colleagues said that relatives should be counseled before they witness the tests which confirm that the body can no longer function without medical assistance. ‘it is possible that allowing relatives  to be present may help them to understand the diagnosis and assist the grieving process,” Bonner  said.

 

Patients, who suffer brain deaths, are usually the victims of traffic accidents, head injuries, severe strokes or cerebral hemorrhage.”These are not people with brain damage, these are people in a persistent vegetative state who have the ability to breathe and therefore have the potential to wake up in a year or two,” he added.-Reuters


To cite : Shroff S, Navin S. Witnessing brain death tests cold help families cope. .
Available at:
https://www.itnnews.co.in/indian-transplant-newsletter/issue8/WITNESSING-BRAIN-DEATH-TESTS-COLD-HELP-FAMILIES-COPE-737.htm

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