Creation of a donation after circulatory death (DCD) training DVD

Kathryn Coumans², Helen Opdam¹, Nicole Gauthier¹, Elizabeth Treasure¹

¹DonateLife Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, ²Barwon Health, Geelong, Australia

DonateLife Victoria (DLV) has developed a unique model for the implementation of donation after circulatory death (DCD). With support from the DonateLife Victoria Agency, hospital donation specialist staff develop a local DCD protocol and undertake other activities such as education of ICU and operating theatre personnel and run a mock DCD case. This process achieves engagement of key hospital stakeholders and provides strong local ownership by clinical staff, vital for subsequent success in undertaking DCD.

Twelve hospitals in the metropolitan and greater Melbourne area currently have active DCD programs, with the aim now to expand DCD capability to include rural and smaller Victorian hospitals. DLV identified a lack of resource material for training staff specifically in DCD donation, and wanted to fill this gap. We will demonstrate how a group of dedicated professionals were able to create a DVD of a mock DCD case for use within Victoria and nationally to train staff with no or minimal exposure to DCD.

The process of creating the video included:

• Formation of a DCD DVD working group consisting of DLV Agency and hospital staff, transplant surgeons, operating theatre staff, and a filmmaker
• Identifying target audience information needs and key elements of the DCD process
• Developing a script which accurately illustrates the organ donation process from the first family conversation to the family viewing after surgery
• Casting roles using members of the working group and actors
• Undertaking the filming at Geelong Hospital within the ICU and operating theatre
• Review and editing of scenes with the film company

Conclusion

The DCD DVD working group has successfully created a high quality training resource available to educate hospital staff in Victoria and Australia about the DCD process. The resource achieves the goal of providing clear, accurate and relevant information to staff in an engaging way.

Source of Funding:

DonateLife Victoria