There are six transplant centers in Switzerland where transplant coordinators work. A distinction is made between local and national transplant coordinators. They organize and coordinate the complex processes involved in the allocation of organs through to transplantation.
The Swisstransplant national coordination office is located in Bern. The team there ensures national and international coordination of organ transplants around the clock. Swisstransplant allocates the individual organs to the Swiss transplant centers and is also responsible for the international exchange of organs. Other tasks of the national coordination include public relations work and the compilation of statistics.
When evaluating organ donors, DCA employees are called upon by the intensive care units. They support the teams that look after organ donors and their relatives.
The local transplant coordinators are generally the primary contacts for patients who are on the waiting list. When SwissTransplant allocates an organ for a recipient, they transmit the necessary data to the responsible doctors. Once they have accepted the organ for the recipient, the transplant coordinators take over the entire organization and logistics of all the people involved in the upcoming transplant.
In order to be able to carry out transplants, the clinics deploy on-call teams with various specialists. These teams are available day and night, 365 days a year. Up to a hundred people can be involved in a single transplant, from the transplant surgeon to the patient admissions department to the nursing staff.
These complex and interdisciplinary processes require a central coordination office: the transplant coordination. One of the main tasks of transplant coordination is to be a central point of contact for all those involved, providing the relevant information for all those involved.
Complex clarifications are necessary before a possible living kidney donation. These are carried out in several clarification stages. Before deciding whether a potential donation is eligible, the transplant coordinator is responsible for the entire organization and contact with the potential living kidney donor.
Complex clarifications are necessary before a possible living liver donation. These are carried out in several clarification stages. Before deciding whether a potential donation is eligible, the transplant coordination is responsible for the entire organization and contact with the potential living liver donor.
Before a patient can be placed on the liver waiting list, detailed examinations, discussions and consultations must take place. A one-week hospital stay is required for this clarification, which is planned by the transplant coordination team to ensure a speedy clarification.
Before a patient can be placed on the renal waiting list, detailed examinations, discussions and consultations must take place. Several appointments at the USZ are necessary for these clarifications, which are planned by the transplant coordination team in order to ensure a speedy clarification.
Organ-related, interdisciplinary meetings are held on a weekly basis, at which organ-specific parameters must be discussed and updated, as these can have a major influence on the allocation of donor organs. The transplant coordinators are responsible for constantly updating and adjusting the waiting list of all organ recipients
If the interdisciplinary colloquium has decided that a patient can be placed on the waiting list, the transplant coordinators will conduct admission interviews. Patients are also informed about what they need to bear in mind while they are on the waiting list.
As organ donation is anonymous, the relevant medical data of the donor must be merged with that of the recipient following a transplant. These are of great importance for the further treatment of the organ recipient.
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