New Resuscitation Protocol

[indigo_rose99]

When EMS showed up on that day I remember far too clearly, they pushed me out of the way and started working on my father.  I said, "He has a DNR.  And I have Medical Power of Attorney!  Do not resuscitate him!  This is not what he wants."

One burly EMS guy looked at me once and said, "Do you have a copy of the DNR to show me right now?  No?  Then let us do our job."  I protested that the DNR and my Medical Power of Attorney was on file with the hospital.  They refused to listen to me without the DNR actually IN MY HAND.

Too bad this new protocol is unlikely to have expanded to Texas.

Comments

[reedrover]

::headshake::

I sent this to my parents and my sister, reminding them that DNRs do no good when they aren't local to the people who need them.

[cat-napp.livejournal.com]

I suspect it all comes down to lawsuits and hospitals wanting to Cover Their Butt. Like the FERPA laws which prohibit colleges from giving out any information to an adult student's parents unless that student has submitted their written consent with accompanying identification to the university. Doesn't matter if the parents are paying for all the classes. Paramedics are in a tricky situation--seconds could be the difference between life and death, and they don't feel they have the luxury to contact the hospital and have someone look up a patient's file. If they decide not to resuscitate without proof, and it turns out that for some bizarre reason the family member was lying about the DNR, then the hospital gets sued by other family members. It's ugly and petty but there it is. We can't do what's right because we're such a litigious society that we get burned for it more often than not.