The Flowchart of Cadaver Donation

 

Donator passes away



 

Obtain the death certificate from a medical doctor                                      

 


Prepare three copies of the death certificate and one copy of consent

(before death: PDF/Word ; after death: PDF/Word )

 

 



Contact Mr. Wen to arrange the transportation for cadaver

(06-2353535#5291 or 5317; mobile: 0960566755, department staff of the medical college in NCKU)

 


Inform court prosecutor with cadaver receiver (fill by NCKU medical collage), death certificate, and consent files

 

 



Preservation and frozen

 


Cremate cadaver after gross anatomy course

 

 

 


Return the cremains (bone ash) to donator’s family or conserve in the medical college of NCKU

 


 

 

 


The Principles for Cadaver Donation

 

1.      Aim: In order to improve the basic and clinical medical education and to encourage cadaver donation, we wrote down these rules as the principles of our work.

 

2.      Conditional contracts:

 

A. The principles are according to the “Law for Cadaver Dissection” addressed by the President of ROC. on Dec 21, 1948 and June 16, 1984.

B. The people who wish to donate his/her cadaver to medical college for teaching and research should process through the following principles.

C. We need a perfect teaching material for the medical education and should also concern about the health of the scientists and students. Therefore, we cannot accept the body with infectious disease, over obesity, serious trauma or with the big surgery (the situation is defined by department of anatomy in NCKU).

3. The signature of legal documents: The medical college should obtain the donation consents from donator (form1) and his/her families (forms 2) before accept the cadaver for teaching and research purposes.

4. The procedure of cadaver donation is:

A. After the death is confirmed by procurator, legal forensic medical expert or doctor, contact the department staff - Mr. Wen (06-2353535 ext: 5317 or 5290, mobile: 0960566755) to arrange the transportation for the cadaver.

 

B. After receiving the cadaver, the department of anatomy is supposed to prepare the received document, consent form and death certificate to inform the court procurator.

5. The process of donation: the donator should fill out the consent forms from himself/herself and his/her families. Then send the forms to the department of anatomy.

6. The department of anatomy should start the preservation at once when received the cadaver.  

7. According to the medical morality, we called the cadaver as a teacher to represent our respect toward the donator and life. 

 

8. After of anatomic course is completed, the remains are cremated at a licensed crematory, the cremains (bone ash) are returned to family or save in the department of anatomy.

 

9. In order to reveal our gratitude toward the donator who helps us in medical education and research, we would hold a ceremony before the gross anatomy course. We would also invite the family to join a memorial ceremony of the donator at the end of same course.

 

10. These principles are announced after the approval in the meetings of department and college, and may be modified if it is necessary.



 

 

 

Questions and Answers

 

Q1: What are the criteria of cadaver donation?

A1: 1. A consent form from the donator’s family

2. The body with serious trauma, such as car accident, suicide, big surgery etc. cannot be accepted.

 

Q2: Is there any age boundary for the donator?

A2: The donator should be over 16 years old.

 

Q3: Do I need my family’s agreement and signature on the donation form?

A3: Yes

 

Q4: Can I have cadaver and organ donation be done altogether?

A4: Yes, but we would have organ donation as priority. After the organ transplant, the body cannot be used for anatomic teaching anymore (corneal transplant is excluded).

 

Q5: After I signed donation form, will I be usually contact by the department of anatomy?

A5: No, we don’t want to bother any donator.

 

Q6: Can I get any favor or discount from hospital if I signed the donation form?

A6: No

 

Q7: How long the cadaver can be accepted for the donation after death is confirmed?  

A7: Within 24 hours.

 

Q8: What kind of certificates or forms do I need for the cadaver donation?

A8: Three copies of death certificates and one copy of consent form from the families are required.

 

Q9: After the cadaver donation, can we get any benefit or pension for the funeral?

A9: No, but our department would pay all cost for the funeral.

 

Q10: How long will the body be dissected after the donation?

A10: Probably around 2 years.

 

Q11: Due to religious reasons, are there any differences for the ceremony of burying?

A11: Yes, there would be the ceremonies for the Christian and Buddhist separately. 

 

Q12: When the gross anatomy course is completed, would body be cremated individually?

A12: Yes, they would be reconstructed before cremation.

 

Q13: How long could the cremation remains being stored in medical centre?

A13: No limitation

 

Q14: If not all the families are agree with the donation, can I still donate my body?

A14: You can still donate according to our principles, but we would like to negotiate with the families and donator first, in case the arguments occur.

 

Q15: Do I need the witness of the court to prevent my families from changing their mind?

A15: No, anyone of your family was respected, so we would give up if the arguments occur.

 

Q16: Can the staff of anatomy promised that they would accept the bodies after the donation forms have been signed?

A16: Not necessarily, it would depend on the condition of the cadaver and the available space for storage in our department.

 

Q17: Can I still donate my body if there has been an excision of the organ or with infectious disease?

A17: Yes, if the donator has been cured.

 

Q18: After the preservation is completed, can I take back the cadaver temporarily for the religious ceremony?

A18: No, this would cause some bad effects on the storage of cadaver.

 

Q19: Can I worship the donator beyond official time?

A19: Yes, but you should contact the staff first previously.

 

Q20: Can donator’s family join the gross anatomy course or preservation?

A20: No

 

Q21: If I want to accomplish donator’s will, place his bone ash in the place he/she wants, what should I do?

A21: We would return the bone ash to the families to accomplish donator’s wish.