Having the Complete End-of-Life Document Bundle

An advanced directive is an important document that directs health care decisions, but alone it can leaves gaps that may result in an individual receiving care against their wishes. An E.M.T. or paramedic responding to an emergency is required to start life prolonging treatment unless they receive specific orders from a doctor to do otherwise. An advance directive does not satisfy that requirement. This often results in life sustaining treatment being started and then an advance directive becoming known to the doctor that this treatment was against the wishes of the patient, but advance directives often do not direct what to do once life sustaining treatment has begun if it was not wanted at all.

A Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (Polst ) signed by the individual’s doctor, or a MedicAlert “Do Not Resuscitate” bracelet can avoid this problem by giving the E.M.T.s and emergency room staff clear and immediate doctor’s orders to not give treatment. Polst forms are an effective communication tool in the 45 states that recognize them.

See Jessica Nutik Zitter, The Right Paperwork for Your End-of-Life Wishes, New York Times, Apr. 29, 2015.

Special thanks to Naomi Cahn (Harold H. Greene Professor of Law, George Washington University School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.