End of Life Decisions
When you see your doctor, or get admitted to hospital, the topic of end of life decisions may be brought up. I am a country GP with many years of experience including emergency resuscitation, and I want to describe my understanding of what you are being asked. In a nutshell, you are being asked, “ If your condition suddenly deteriorates and you require emergency treatment to try and save your life, do you want us to do everything we can, or should we allow you to die?” No matter what is wrong with you, you are free to say that you would like full resuscitation measures to be taken should you suffer an arrest. The severe emergency treatments we are talking about are mainly CPR (chest compression/cardiac massage) DC shock (electric shock to the heart) Emergency Intravenous fluid and medication (e.g. adrenaline) Ventilation (Mouth to mouth or an apparatus/machine to do the same) Intubation (a tube placed in the trachea through which a machine can breathe for you). T