Training cadaver dogs

Nursing, Apr 2004 by Salladay, Susan A

AMPUTATED BODY PARTS

As an OR charge nurse, I handle a lot of ethical issues, but what happened yesterday took me completely off guard. A patient was undergoing amputation of his forearm after it had been mangled in a lawn mower accident. I was asked to wrap and store the amputated limb until a representative from the state's Search and Rescue Training Program could pick it up. The organization uses human body parts to train cadaver dogs to search for bodies.

I didn't know what to say or do and neither did the surgeon, so we just stored the limb as requested. Should we have gotten the patient's permission? Do we need to work through our local organ procurement agency?-R.P., NEB.

This situation doesn't involve donation for transplantation or research purposes, so contacting your local organ procurement agency isn't appropriate.

Your hospital should have a policy regarding the disposal of amputated body parts, probably by cremation. If your hospital is cooperating with this program, the policy should be amended to cover the process for transferring a body part to the training program. Your hospital should have a formal contractual relationship with the training program to establish a record of donations, make sure any associated costs are recovered, and clarify how and when body parts will be disposed of after their use in training.

Most hospitals don't require patients' specific consent to dispose of amputated body parts; this is covered by the hospital's general release form. But cultural considerations must be respected. For example, in some religions, the belief in the sanctity of the human body includes each body part, member, and organ. When a body part is separated from the body, it must be buried too. Check with your hospital's chaplain for religious considerations that may apply to your patients.

BY SUSAN A. SALLADAY, RN, PHD