New paper applies SCCM adult end-of-life ICU guidelines directly to the DCD setting.
Published August 1, this study takes the Society of Critical Care Medicine clinical practice guidelines on adult end-of-life care in the ICU and applies them specifically to donation after circulatory death. It frames the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment and comfort care standards in the context of DCD recovery.
On your shift: DCD cases live or die on the timing and coordination of withdrawal at the bedside. This gives you a clinical reference point that aligns donor management with the same end-of-life standards ICU teams already follow, which can smooth conversations with critical care staff.
Source: PubMed (Organ Donation Research)