K-SOTTO workshop focuses on strengthening deceased organ donation network

The Kerala State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (K-SOTTO) organised a specialised training programme, jointly with PRS Hospital here on Monday on hospital-level preparedness for initiating deceased donor kidney transplantation programmes.

The academic programme was intended as part of the efforts to streamline and improve the efficiency of deceased organ donation in the State and to bring more hospitals into the organ donation network.

The K-SOTTO Executive Director, S. S. Noble Gracious led detailed discussions on “In-hospital preparedness for initiating a deceased donor renal transplant programme” . K-SOTTO Joint Director, Basil Saju conducted a session on the timely identification of brain stem death and the procedures for its certification.

The programme covered sessions on ICU data management, communication with the families of potential donors, infrastructure and registration requirements under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA), and the functioning of the K-SOTTO network. Other topics included patient waitlisting, organ allocation criteria, transplant coordination and standard operating workflows.

The workshop is part of K-SOTTO’s efforts to expand the network of hospitals participating in deceased organ donation and transplantation, thereby improving access to life-saving transplants for patients awaiting donor organs.

The aim is to strengthen awareness, improve hospital infrastructure and equip more government, private and cooperative hospitals to participate in the deceased organ donation process.