The two criteria to confirm death are:
- the irreversible loss of consciousness and
- loss of spontaneous ventilation.
Brain-stem death is caused by neurological damage to the brain-stem resulting in loss of both consciousness and spontaneous ventilation.
Diagnosis of brain-stem death requires two doctors of appropriate experience to independently ensure that the required prerequisites for testing are satisfied and that all brain-stem reflexes are absent, with no spontaneous ventilation effort occurs during apnoea testing [5].
