On 18th April 2016, MOHAN Foundation was invited by BLK Super Specialty Hospital to conduct a half day training on Donor Action Program for ICU consultants and nurses. The training workshop was requested by Dr. Sanjay Mehta, Medical Superintendent BLK Hospital to give the needed push to the ongoing deceased organ donation program in the hospital.

The hospital was set up in 1956 by Dr. B L Kapur, an eminent Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, and was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru. Today, a modern state-of-the-art tertiary care hospital has come up in place of the old hospital. It is one of the biggest stand-alone private Hospitals in the National Capital Region today.

BLK Hospital has made a conscious effort to promote deceased organ donation through their flagship initiative of ‘Recycle Life’ to keep alive the legacy of those how give others a chance to live. They have a robust program for bone marrow, kidney, liver and heart transplant. The training was organized for the intensivists, neuro-surgeons & physicians, ICU nurses and transplant coordinators. The resource persons for training program were Dr. Sumana Navin, (Course Director MOHAN Foundation) Ms, Pallavi Kumar (Executive Director MOHAN Foundation Delhi-NCR) and Dr.Vijayanand Palaniswamy (Intensive Care Consultant, Darwin Hospital, Australia).

Following sessions were conducted during the training:

1. Everything you wanted to know about the law pertaining to organ donation, but were too afraid to ask: Dr. Sumana Navin

2. Brain death identification and donor optimization : Dr. Vijayanand Palaniswamy

• Brain stem death testing – How to do it right – first time and every time
• Real life cases – exploring common pitfalls, brain death mimics and ethical conundrums
• Donor Optimisation: Taking care of 7 patients not just one donor

3. Breaking bad news and approaching the family for organ donation : Ms. Pallavi Kumar

4. The role of intensivist in organ donation- Building on trust : Dr. Vijayanand Palaniswamy

5. NHSBT Quiz (Real Life scenarios)—one question- Is this patient brain dead or not brain dead?: Dr.Sumana Navin

MOHAN Foundation and BLK Hospital truly believe that the medical fraternity bears a very big responsibility to make a program on organ donation a success in the hospital. The experience of the family, who has been approached for organ donation, both during the treatment and after the death is declared, makes a huge impact on their decision on donating organs. The need to continue supporting the family even if there is a refusal was stressed upon as that determines the perception of the family towards the hospital as well as how the message would be carried forward outside the hospital.

At the end of the training, the BLK team and MOHAN Foundation came to a consensus that there is a need of an ICU counselor who works with all the families of ICU patients providing them emotional and other support and works as a facilitator in helping them cope with their grief. The advantage of this would be that the family sees him/her as a familiar person and already have a relationship with this person and a certain degree of trust has been established.