Discussion DNR Form?

[muretax]

Has anyone thought about signing a Do Not Resuscitate form? It's crossed my mind numerous times and I've always thought about signing one in case I get severely sick or injured. I did some research and the whole you can choose to have them not intervene medically but just help with pain management as you pass on entices me and I'm wondering if it'll be beneficial when ctbing.

What are your thoughts?

 

[TiredHorse]

General consensus seems to be that involving a doctor to get the official signature commonly necessary for a DNR makes it impractical for our application.

I may be wrong, but medical non-intervention/exclusively palliative care seems to be covered more by an Advanced Directive than a DNR.

 

[Kooz]

Yeah any doctor will immediately flag you if you're not terminal or have some pretty serious sickness. Especially if you have a depression background.

 

[muretax]

Yeah any doctor will immediately flag you if you're not terminal or have some pretty serious sickness. Especially if you have a depression background.

Did not think about that, this is very true.

 

[OkTotti]

what about creating a living will? Is that not similar? No doctors involved and i think you can get one from legalzoom.com

 

[muretax]

what about creating a living will? Is that not similar? No doctors involved and i think you can get one from legalzoom.com

That's crossed my mind also. I think I'm just living in a fantasy world where I can sign a form, ctb and if needed, not have anyone intervene so I can just die unless there's no chance for death. I have to look at all the legal options and see if there's anything I could do, but I highly doubt it.

 

[Xerxes]

Choose a method with the least chance of survival so even if you do manage an attempt to get brain damage or become comatose with low survival rate, then the easy choice for family would be to pull the plug on you. Unless your family is one of those that believes in miracles.

 

[Kooz]

By the way, I recommend https://doyourownwill.com instead of LegalZoom.

 

[muretax]

Choose a method with the least chance of survival so even if you do manage an attempt to get brain damage or become comatose with low survival rate, then the easy choice for family would be to pull the plug on you. Unless your family is one of those that believes in miracles.

Yeah I'm going through all the options just have a huge fear of surviving or being severely disabled. My family is the type to keep me on life support in hopes for a miracle. I only told one person to not keep me on life support or anything for any reason, if it's my time to go, it's my time to go. It's just constantly in the back of my head being kept on life support in a coma for weeks because my family is too selfish to let go. It's not something I want.

 

[Trashcan]

I have, but they're not respected for suicide attempts. I'm also relatively young (21) so I doubt a doctor would be willing to sign it.

 

[Xerxes]

Doctors have shitty signatures, you might be able to get away by forging it. I dunno if the DNR has to be notarized as well?

 

[muretax]

I'm wondering, can I write on paper to not resuscitate me or is that useless and sillly? I've heard of it being done before but not sure if it's taken seriously.

 

[Xerxes]

Legal forms are best. I believe one person on here said that tattooing DNR wouldn't be taken seriously or it varies from person to person depending on situations.

 

[OkTotti]

I'm wondering, can I write on paper to not resuscitate me or is that useless and sillly? I've heard of it being done before but not sure if it's taken seriously.

No, it's not silly. I think your family will respect your wishes if your like brain dead or a vegetable . Other circumstances, they might try and resuscitate. What method of CTB are you worried that you'll somehow survive? hanging?

 

[muretax]

No, it's not silly. I think your family will respect your wishes if your like brain dead or a vegetable . Other circumstances, they might try and resuscitate. What method of CTB are you worried that you'll somehow survive? hanging?

That's the thing, my family won't respect my wishes regardless what state I'm in. I don't really have a method that I'm set on, hanging is on the top of my list but I'm not positive on it. I'm looking for a guarantee method.

 

[TiredHorse]

I'm wondering, can I write on paper to not resuscitate me or is that useless and sillly? I've heard of it being done before but not sure if it's taken seriously.

I used to be an EMT. Unless the DNR form was in perfect order, and all but taped to the patient's forehead (it was usually taped to the headboard of the bed), we were bound by law to ignore it. Our job was to attempt to save lives, and no matter how much either the patient or the family told us otherwise, without that perfect DNR we had to try and save the life. We would have been legally liable had we done otherwise --and if there's one thing more fearsome than death, it's lawyers.

So no, since a tattoo is not an official DNR form --it will be ignored. Any piece of paper other than an offical DNR form --will be ignored. Any request to allow you to die in peace, even by your family --will be ignored.

If you are not dead, and dead by very specific metrics --lividity, rigor mortis, decapitation, incineration, and a couple others I don't remember-- the EMTs will attempt to resucitate you no matter how hard you've tried to make the task pointless.

So if you're going to ctb, make sure you're very, very dead by the time the ambulance arrives, because no paperwork yet printed will allow the EMTs to let you rest in peace solely because that was your intention.

Edited: This is the situation in the US. Other nations, like Idorus's, may be more civilized.

 

[Idorus]

I'm wearing a DNR necklace day & night.. at least professionals in my country are not allowed to resuscitate you then, and they won't. But it's another story for non-prof. first-aid helpers, they may decide for themselves :(
I wiped my name & birth data on the badge;

 

[Lifeisatrap]

Yeah any doctor will immediately flag you if you're not terminal or have some pretty serious sickness. Especially if you have a depression background.

This. I already made my will to not be resuscitated under any circumstance and attempted to get an advance form from the docter to make it official and was immediately turned down to the point of being outright insulted for even asking:( So I bought a medical identifacation bracelet that has my name in the front, and "See living will" in the back that I wear 24/7. I doubt it'll be of any use though if such a situation were to arise. They'll most likely still try and resuscitate me, completely ignoring my explicit wishes.

 

[TiredHorse]

I doubt it'll be of any use though if such a situation were to arise. They'll most likely still try and resuscitate me, completely ignoring my explicit wishes

An EMT will look at your bracelet, see that it does not contain any relevant medical information (diabetic, epileptic, etc.), and ignore it. In an EMS situation, they couldn't care less about your living will or advanced directive. Only an official DNR, clearly posted near your body and fully and accurately completed would be recognized and heeded.

Look at it from the EMT's point of view: we arrive on scene, we don't know you, we have no idea whether you wanted to die, or whether someone has attempted to murder you, or whether you were messing about with erotic asphyxiation and went too far, or accidentally overdosed, or what the hell happened. You can't honestly expect us to take at face value a piece of paper saying, "please let me die!", can you?

I really don't mean to be nasty about it, I just want to point out that EMS has what is typically a really shitty, really high stress job, where we see too many people die who desperately want to live. When we arrive on scene, the last thing we're going to think is, "hmm, I wonder if we should just let him die? Does anyone see a note that will protect our decision of inaction in front of a courtroom full of lawyers and bereaved family?" It is completely against all our training and all our professional experience, never mind our legal liabilities. And statistically speaking, we're doing the right thing when we try to save someone's life.

It sucks for we miserable few who want to end our lives, but that's just the way it is.

 

[Lifeisatrap]

"It sucks for we miserable few who want to end our lives, but that's just the way it is." Yeah, it's always the miserable few who are screwed the most. I disagree, that it's not always obvious whether a person wanted to live or die. Like if someone has a belt around their neck or a plastic bag over their head with the inert gas in the corner... they clearly wanted to die. But I get it, they're just doing their job. It just pisses me off that that's considered "natural" and legal while euthanasia isn't.

 

[TAW122]

Based on what @TiredHorse said about EMTs and medical professionals, I'd figure it would be hell of a lot harder (if not impossible) for me to get that approved for an AD or DNR form than just making sure that I'm clinically dead by many metrics. It reminds me of the old adage of "it is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission," except in this case, replace "ask for forgiveness" with ctb