When you are doing your estate planning, making medical decisions is one thing that you want to keep in mind. This isn’t all about money and assets. One document that people sometimes used to do this is known as a DNR order, where DNR stands for “Do Not Resuscitate.”
The goal of this order is clear: If someone needs resuscitation in a hospital setting, they do not want to receive it, and they want to make sure that the doctors understand their wishes, even though they can’t communicate those wishes themselves. This communication of medical desires is a big reason why people will use advance directives in their estate plans. Something like a heart attack or a stroke could make it so you can’t communicate directly, but you still don’t want the doctors to provide treatment that you don’t approve of.
With all of that in mind, what exactly is resuscitation and why do people want to avoid it?
Life-saving treatment
Resuscitation is defined as “the act of bringing someone or something back to life or waking them. “
The most common example of this is cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. This is when someone has had a drowning incident, and they stopped breathing, chest compressions and other methods can help to get them breathing again.
In a hospital setting, resuscitation may include CPR, but it can also include the use of medications and machines. Some people believe that this is simply taking things too far, and they would rather not have these advanced treatments used on them.
If that is something that you want to address, it’s important to know how to make your estate plan in advance.