Ideas on Getting a DNR as a Healthy Subject from PCP?

[DeadManLiving]

So my impression is that DNRs are usually used in end of life/palliative care inpatient settings or for other exceptional circumstances but not ordinarily conferred to normal subjects that have no reason or ailments to be concerned with the process of obtaining one.

The question is how to get one as a healthy subject from a doctor? With the widespread doubletake checks PCPs on high alert under scrutiny to look out for signs by the MH community, what are some methods to obtain a valid DNR without a doctor or with a doctor but providing a plausible benign explanation.

Scuba diving lessons? New high risk job offer?

Does a DNR need to be signed by a doc? Would a properly notarized Advance Directive essentially have the same effect?

And where are the lines drawn between cardiac or respiratory failure and arrest? My understanding is that if you have a DNR they can't do CPR or resuscitate if you're in respiratory or cardiac arrest but what about respiratory failure? Where are the lines drawn?

Can any lawyers or medics clarify? Also I believe that a DNR is invalid and you can proceed to perform life-saving measures provided that you're responding to a suicide but how do you know that it's a suicide?

You would be risking your certifications if you went against the DNR order so how would you determine if (1) the call for service involved a person with MH history but cannot ascertain if the subject in cardiac arrest or RF was an act of suicide and (2) would an Advanced Directive be honored as a DNR if the person had it nearby in plain sight?

 

[Tesha]

If you're in the UK, then anyone with capacity just needs to complete the paperwork AND make sure it's signed correctly. Then register it with your GP. It's always good to have an advanced decision, as you never know what may happen.

This a company that has free templates -

Compassion in Dying

We want you to be in control of your end-of-life decisions. Because there is no-one better to make them.

compassionindying.org.uk

 

[DeadManLiving]

If you're in the UK, then anyone with capacity just needs to complete the paperwork AND make sure it's signed correctly. Then register it with your GP. It's always good to have an advanced decision, as you never know what may happen.

This a company that has free templates -

Compassion in Dying

We want you to be in control of your end-of-life decisions. Because there is no-one better to make them.

compassionindying.org.uk

Thanks for this. I don't live in the UK though but would be useful for those who do.

I'm in the States, and laws vary between state to state complicating things further. Any former/current medics Stateside?

 

[ceilng_tile]

Anyone can get a DNR regardless of their current health status, as long as they're of "sound mind." If you tell your doctor that you want to be DNR, they will put it in your chart. DNR just means that if your heart stops, they won't do chest compressions or try to chemically resuscitate you. (People often combine DNR with DNI which means that if you stop breathing, they won't put a tube down your throat and hook you up to a ventilator.) It doesn't mean they won't give you medical treatment in all other circumstances.

If your doctor asks you why you want to be DNR/DNI, just tell them it's against your religious beliefs. They usually don't argue with that.

An advanced directive is more official than a DNR/DNI order but you may need a lawyer and/or a notary to get one.