On 15^th September, 2013 a one day Continuing Medical Education (CME) on Karnataka Organ Donor Awareness Programme (KODAP) was held at Hotel Atria, Bengaluru. This CME was a joint venture of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine (ISCCM) – Bengaluru Chapter; Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka (ZCCK) for Transplantation and the Non-Governmental Organisations that are working in the field - MOHAN Foundation and Gift Your Organ.

Around 50 critical care physicians/intensivists, anesthetists, nurses from Intensive Care Units (ICU) and transplant coordinators from leading transplant centres in Bengaluru participated in the programme. The CME was organized with the aim of sensitizing these deceased donor provider groups in the following aspects essential for successful organ donation and transplantation to take place: medical, legal and counseling.

A successful deceased organ donation programme relies on early identification and certification of brain dead patients. It also depends on the effective medical management of the potential deceased donor. Especially, the critical care physicians/intensivists and anesthetists play a vital role in maintaining a brain dead deceased organ donor. Further; their role was made more significant when the Transplantation of Human Organs (THO) Amendment Act, 2011 expanded the panel that can legally certify brain death by including the anesthetists and intensivists.

The CME drew speakers from three states – From Karnataka: Dr. Pradeep Rangappa, Consultant Intensive Care Physician, Bengaluru; Dr. Sunil Karanth, Head of ICU, Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru; Dr. Chinnadurai R, Consultant Critical Care Medicine, Columbia Asia Hospital, Bengaluru and Dr. P. K. Devadass, Professor and Head, Forensic Medicine, Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute, Bengaluru. From Andhra Pradesh: Mrs. Lalitha Raghuram, Country Director, MOHAN Foundation, Hyderabad and from Tamil Nadu: Dr. Sumana Navin, Course Director and Mrs. Sujatha Niranjan, MIS from MOHAN Foundation, Chennai

The following sessions were scheduled at the CME:

Medical 

• Clinical confirmation of brain death
• Brain dead organ donor physiology and management

Legal

• The THO Act, 1994
• The THO Rules, 1995
• The THO (Amendment) Act, 2011
• Deceased Organ Donation – Protocol in Karnataka
• Medico Legal Cases (MLC) and postmortem formalities in deceased organ donation in Karnataka

Counselling and Public Education

• Breaking bad news and approaching the family for organ donation
• Intensivists’ role in organ donation - Care of the dying patient
• Care of the donor family 
• Effectiveness of public education when celebrities are engaged in it

The CME also had a session where the speakers shared their particular experience with deceased organ donation programme in their State. The panel had representation from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The speakers who addressed the gathering were: Dr. D. Ramesh, Senior Orthopaedic Consultant, M. S. Ramaiah Hospital, Bengaluru and Secretary, ZCCK, Karnataka; and Dr. J. Amalorpavanathan, Consultant Vascular Surgeon, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), Chennai and Convenor, Cadaver Transplant Programme, Tamil Nadu. They highlighted the successes and challenges in their respective State deceased organ donation programme.