With a global increase in the demand for organ transplants, the organ shortage crisis has taken a turn for the worse, as the supply of available organs remains insufficient to meet this growing need. A way to improve this dire situation is to identify potential organ donors who can fulfill the requirement for organs. As a result, screening for brain death in the intensive care unit, specifically after a cardiac arrest, has become important for identifying potential organ donors.

Now, extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) is increasingly being used as a new rescue method for reviving people from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, implementing ECPR brings complex ethical challenges, mainly because it often leads to patients being placed on mechanical support with limited chances for neurological recovery. Previous studies have shown that patients undergoing ECPR have higher organ donation rates than those receiving conventional CPR. This may suggest an increasing potential for organ donation through ECPR.