Comments on: I promise to make this as painless as possible

By: Nurse Roxy

Nurse Roxy — Sat, 16 Oct 2004 14:09:59 +0000

I had to chuckle at the part about being required to ask patients about Advance Directives & being met with a confused look. My favorite response to “Do you have a living will?” was when the patient nodded and proceeded to tell me “Oh yeah, my house will go to my son & his wife and the car will ….” and continued to tell me his intentions for his every possession after his death.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 12 Oct 2004 23:38:08 +0000

As for the laws varying- you aren’t kidding. My state, for instance, does not recognize living wills- only health care proxies. Still, it’s better to have too much documentation than not enough, especially if family members are likely to challenge your advance directive once you no longer have capacity.

By: BladeDoc

BladeDoc — Tue, 12 Oct 2004 09:40:55 +0000

There’s never been a “wrongful life” lawsuit. Hospitals, EMS services, airlines, and essentially everyone else will always err on the side of resuscitation. Happens all the time.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 26 Oct 2003 23:11:48 +0000

With regard to Caryn’s comment about disregarding advanced directives: as an EMT I’m going to start resuscitation attempts unless I get a signed, official DNR/AD document preferably notarized by everyone in a fifty-mile radius who counts. I’ll probably call control first, but without the piece of paper or someone official saying you have/had that piece of paper, you don’t have it. As a note for those of you who don’t want EMTs to resuscitate you – please make sure you have that DNR/AD nearby – it clears up a lot of confusion.

With regard to the international airline – perhaps other countries have different laws? Besides, which laws are you supposed to happen halfway to the Azores at 35,000 feet?

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 01 Jul 2003 07:33:38 +0000

One thing that really annoys me is when people disregard valid advance directives and attempt resuscitation anyway, often because they personally can’t handle the alternative. Your procedures sound really good, but a lot of people don’t have the foresight to arrest under care in a medical facility. This can be bad news when emergency responders (often not even paramedics) turn up, pursue aggressive resuscitation, and disregard any advance directives that may be presented to them. For instance, I know of one international airline that instructs its flight attendants to attempt resuscitation (CPR and AED) in *all* cases, unless a DNR has been registered in advance with their passenger clearance unit and the passenger is accompanied by their own personal healthcare professional. You may not agree with me on this, but finding out about that airline policy really bugged me.

By: Caryn

Caryn — Sun, 02 Feb 2003 01:55:16 +0000

Wow. Time to talk to Mom and Dad about this stuff. And the hubster.