A pt in cardiac arrest will be of little use for organs that must be obtained from someone who is living. Many out of hospital deaths are also medical examiner cases who then decides what tissues can be donated under their jurisdiction. If death is pronounced in either the ED or field, the ME gets the body first. Then whatever tissues can be obtained.
However, patients like the young girl that was left to die along side the road in San Antonio by the paramedics would have been an excellent candidate and should have been worked once vitals were found (if they had checked). A healthy young body can usually live long enough for organ procurement even with a severe TBI.
It usually takes at least 24 hours to do all the testing for organ donation. Most of this testing can not be done during hypothermia protocols since sedation and paralytics will obviously interfere.
Once in the hospital and after all the testing is completed, organ procurement can be initiated one brain death has been determined or if that criteria is not met, in some cases after cardiac death. However, that is NOT cardiac death in the field. It is planned death in the OR prior to procurement.
