VICDOC Summer 2025 - Flipbook - Page 33
How do retrievals work?
for organ and tissue donation. It started
by uniting all those organisations under
In Victoria, we have several organ
the DonateLife banner. They all came
retrieval teams made up of surgeons,
together and shared ideas and policies
anaesthetists, perfusionists and others.
to create as much federal cohesion
Their role is critical as we often have
as possible, within the realms of what
multiple donors a day across the
was possible at a state and territory
state requiring extensive travel and
level. Together we have created a best-
coordination. Retrieval teams must
practice model for offering organ and
adapt quickly to unfamiliar hospitals
tissue donation to families, and we are
and navigate logistical challenges.
seeing some great outcomes.
They need to be able to work well within
an existing system and communicate
effectively to prioritise the needs of
both potential donors and recipients.
Sometimes a planned donor doesn't die
in timeframes that are medically suitable
for donation, so a team might go to the
donor hospital and not end
up performing a retrieval procedure.
How do the regional and rural
Australians fare in this pace
compared with urban ones?
We know donor registration rates are
higher in Victoria’s regional areas.
In terms of donation, from January to
September 2025, there were 17 donors
from regional hospitals in Victoria,
What were things like in the organ
from a total of 110 donors during that
and tissue donation space before
time. So, around 15%. These donors are
the 2008 reforms?
typically in an ICU in one of the large
regional hospitals. However, because
Organ and tissue donation has been
Victoria has a centralised trauma
happening in Victoria and Australia
system, many regional patients have
for many years, but governance
already been transferred to a tertiary,
and coordination relied on local
metropolitan ICU by the time they die
organisations. In Victoria we had LifeGift,
and become donors. When a patient
which was part of the Red Cross Blood
dies regionally, the retrieval team travels
Service. Interstate there were other
there. Access to theatres is often easier
similar government-funded organisations
in regional centres, though staff may
too, but each worked in a relative silo,
have limited experience with donation
rather than working together. The reform
cases. Despite this, their commitment
aimed to improve and coordinate the
and care more than compensate for
systems, processes and success rates
the challenges.
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