Besides the brain death criterion, some countries, including Great-Britain, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, and the USA, also apply so-called DCD criteria (Donation after Cardiac Death) (sometimes the older terminology NHBD for non heart-beating donor is still used). 

According to this procedure, it is permissible to remove organs before the determination of brain death, as soon as a ten minutes’ cardiovascular arrest at normal body temperature has been diagnosed. In Germany, the NHBD procedure may not be used as a criterion for the determination of death.

According to a communication of the German Medical Association Bundesärztekammer, a ten minutes’ cardiovascular arrest at normal body temperature does not represent a valid equivalent to brain death, as each successful reanimation (even if it is only temporary) demonstrates that cardiac arrest is not a safe criterion of death. On the other hand, proponents of the NHBD procedure argue that the cerebral functions are irreversibly lost after a ten minutes’ cardiovascular arrest. In the light of persistent organ shortage, they support early organ removal, as the organs cease their functions shortly after the onset of cardiovascular arrest.