Defibrillators: To be or not to be resuscited
 

There may be many Villagers who have living wills that request they not be resuscitated from apparent death. Should they, can they, be protected from being resuscitated in a non-institutionalized setting? Even some nursing homes ignore the request, for various reasons.

Picture that a person might be walking her dog, going for a brisk walk or pulling weeds in her front yard, in a neighborhood that is equipped with an AED. Some people who have AEDs in their neighborhoods have said they will try to resuscitate everyone, regardless of whether they contributed money or not.

Can a person who is "apparently dead" be protected from being resuscitated?
And what should happen if their request is not honored, as sometimes happens in nursing homes? And what about assisted living facilities?

A person has to either carry their DNR with them and/or have it in a visible location to have the medics not try and save them. If a person does not want to have lifesaving techniques and those around them know that, it is unlikely that 911 would be called. If you have nothing on you and you collapse, chances are someone will try CPR or call 911. DNR orders are posted in assisted livings and are followed, they must be shown t other paramedics and staff are to know where to look should an emergency occur.
And by the way, I cannot imagine an AED Program that does not respond because someone did not contribute!

I would have to say no. Unless that person is carrying around a signed DNR in their pocket or a family member has it on them and they are with the patient then no. Nothing will happen to the good Samaritans as long as they only do what they r trained to do.

If you have a DNR and you really want it to be followed why not buy a Medic Alert Bracelet and have it inscribed with your DNR request and wear it at ALL TIMES. JMO

Because if u just have a medic alert bracelet that won't stand up in court. A signed document must be presented at the time of need. Anyone can have DNR put on a bracelet. But if ur family doesn't agree with u and there is no signed document then everyone is up the creek without a paddle. So then CPR and AED is done

So I guess you need to have it tattooed on your chest so it won't be missed.

Notarized and signed too :a040:

So I'm wondering if there is anyone in The Villages that would be walking around and have a sudden heart attack that wouldn't want to saved. Now those people that are so ill that have a DNR I am thinking for the most part are either not out and about and if they are they are with a loved one that knows their wishes - so the chances of this being a problem are about as remote as the chance of a heart attack associated with electrical drilling or whatever was on the other web site. Why do we need to keep this going.

Only save those who have contributed? Oh my, I have NOW heard the epitimy of "scrooginess"!

Our neighborhood has several AEDs and I am one of those trained to use them. The call we would get to dispatch us to a help a neighbor comes from the county and neither they or I know have any way of knowing who contributed.

The good samaritan law covers anyone regardless of training or not. If you want to die then put a sign on your chest any time you leave the house stating that.

I'm a first responder with a key to nearby defibrillators. Our training is to go in and first of all start cpr with heart compressions and hold doing that until the AED or EMTs arrive. I can say with certainty that to stop me from doing that in a situation where a person is down would not be easy. There is no subtlety to my training.

In the scenario set by the OP where the person is up and about walking the dog?? Maybe if the person is clearly severely debilitated and has a bedside caregiver I could be restrained but in that case it's unlikely a call for defib would go out. Calls for defib are made only after a 911 call is screened for apparent heart attack victims.

My nieces husband said when he was on his ER rotation as an intern someone came in with Do Not Resuscitate tattooed on their chest. He said the D N and R were big letters with the rest of the word small so if you looked quick it said DNR and that a miniaturized copy of the document was in his wallet when they looked. The EMTs were giving CPR when they brought him in but the attending when he saw the card in the wallet instructed them to let him pass. However without the tattoo they never would have looked in the wallet. The patient had terminal cancer.

a dnr can be reversed by family.. and yes it happens more than you know...of course my kids know i would come back and hunt them down if they did not respect a dnr

IIRC, I remember a year or so ago there was a community in a mid Atlantic state that had voluntary participation in the fire dept. One of the houses that did not contribute was on fire and the trucks got there and it was determined they were not part of the "insured" group and they let the house burn. Later one of the officials commented that if they had saved the house then it would disincentivize the participants to pony up the cash to pay for the dept, as everyone would know they could get service in an emergency.