From my point of view the issue here is the fact that philosophical and ethical discussion has not caught up with medical science. I have been listening to podcasts in which Dr. Brian Goldman discusses issues surrounding DNR or No Codes, (Do Not Resuscitate), in the case of terminally ill or dying patients.
In the first place if your loved one dies at home do not call 911 as paramedics are obligated to apply CPR and Defibrillation unless the body is obviously dead--rigor mortis has set in. In a world where it is possible to sustain life in the absence of brain activity or any viable quality of life the issue of using extraordinary means to sustain life indefinitely becomes an ethical and emotional issue.
Lost in all the emotional baggage is the fact that death is a natural and inevitable part of life. Hospitals and Medical professionals seem to feel it is their bounden duty to fight death at all costs. Too few live out their elder years at home or are allowed to die at home in their own beds surrounded by loved ones.
In a hospital setting staff are by default required to run a code blue if a patient stops breathing or their heart stops beating hence the DNR designation. Resuscitating a patient who will inevitably die within minutes, hours, days is cruel, painful, and adds no quality of life to the individual.
When a patient is terminally ill, in pain, or not expected to recover having to ask relatives to authorize a no code at a time of deep emotional trauma is a matter of asking for a decision when the decision maker’s mind is not capable of rational thought. Failure to resuscitate is not euthanasia, it is allowing the body to undergo its natural processes and it does not equate with failure to care for the patient or to do everything possible to make their final hours as comfortable as possible.
In the absence of home care and the opportunity to live out one’s life in a multi-generational setting Hospice Care for those nearing the End of Life is preferable to a hospital setting. I’m personally uncomfortable with the recently coined term Death Midwives.
In the first place if your loved one dies at home do not call 911 as paramedics are obligated to apply CPR and Defibrillation unless the body is obviously dead--rigor mortis has set in. In a world where it is possible to sustain life in the absence of brain activity or any viable quality of life the issue of using extraordinary means to sustain life indefinitely becomes an ethical and emotional issue.
Lost in all the emotional baggage is the fact that death is a natural and inevitable part of life. Hospitals and Medical professionals seem to feel it is their bounden duty to fight death at all costs. Too few live out their elder years at home or are allowed to die at home in their own beds surrounded by loved ones.
In a hospital setting staff are by default required to run a code blue if a patient stops breathing or their heart stops beating hence the DNR designation. Resuscitating a patient who will inevitably die within minutes, hours, days is cruel, painful, and adds no quality of life to the individual.
When a patient is terminally ill, in pain, or not expected to recover having to ask relatives to authorize a no code at a time of deep emotional trauma is a matter of asking for a decision when the decision maker’s mind is not capable of rational thought. Failure to resuscitate is not euthanasia, it is allowing the body to undergo its natural processes and it does not equate with failure to care for the patient or to do everything possible to make their final hours as comfortable as possible.
In the absence of home care and the opportunity to live out one’s life in a multi-generational setting Hospice Care for those nearing the End of Life is preferable to a hospital setting. I’m personally uncomfortable with the recently coined term Death Midwives.
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