by WildRose » Sun 14 Oct 2007, 16:58:45
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'M')y father-in-law had a "do not resusitate" bracelet, and notice above his bed in the nursing home, and was allowed to die naturally.
So, in my experience, it is possible to be allowed to die, because it happened in my family. Nobody rushed in to keep him alive to make more money for the Illness Industry.
In our hospitals in Alberta, DNR status has been adopted as an option to a patient. I don't know if the fact that our Canadian, more socialist health care system has anything to do with it, but the choice is available.
In fact, if you come to hospital as a very elderly patient or one who has a terminal illness or a chronic illness which likely will end in death, you will be asked about your DNR status, whether you wish to be resuscitated should you have a cardiac arrest in hospital. Many times, patients who fit this description have a cardiac arrest, are not resuscitated and die very soon afterwards. However, a person who has decided to keep the "full resuscitation" status, even though very elderly and very chronically ill, can have a cardiac arrest, be resuscitated, and leave hospital a few days later.
So, for now it is a choice, quality of life vs. longevity, I guess. This is a change from only a few short years ago, though, when every cardiac arrest was treated with a full "crash cart" resuscitation.