Durable Power Of Attorney For Health Care Template Page 11
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11C
U
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-S
M
OMMONLY
SED
IFE
UPPORT
EASURES
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a group of treatments used when someone’s heart and/or
breathing stops. CPR is used in an attempt to restart the heart and breathing. It may consist only of
mouth-to-mouth breathing or it can include pressing on the chest to mimic the heart’s function and cause
blood to circulate. Electric shock and drugs also are used frequently to stimulate the heart.
When used quickly in response to a sudden event like a heart attack or drowning, CPR can be life-saving.
But the success rate is extremely low for people who are at the end of a terminal disease process.
Critically ill patients who receive CPR have a small chance of recovering or leaving the hospital.
Rhode Islanders with a terminal condition who do not want rescue/ambulance service/emergency medical
services personnel to perform CPR may join COMFORT ONE. Rescue/ambulance/emergency workers
will provide comfort measures but will not perform CPR or any resuscitation. To join COMFORT ONE,
speak to your physician. ONLY your physician can enroll you in the COMFORT ONE PROGRAM.
Your physician writes a medical order directing rescue/ambulances service/emergency personnel not to
start CPR which is filed with the Rhode Island Department of Health.
Mechanical Ventilation
Mechanical ventilation is used to help or replace how the lungs work. A machine called a ventilator (or
respirator) forces air into the lungs. The ventilator is attached to a tube inserted in the nose or mouth and
down into the windpipe (or trachea). Mechanical ventilation often is used to assist a person through a
short-term problem or for prolonged periods in which irreversible respiratory failure happens due to
injuries to the upper spinal cord or a progressive neurological disease.
Some people on long-term mechanical ventilation are able to enjoy themselves and live a quality of life
that is important to them. For the dying patient, however, mechanical ventilation often merely prolongs
the dying process until some other body system fails. It may supply oxygen, but it cannot improve the
underlying condition.
When discussing end-of-life wishes, make clear to loved ones and your physician whether you would
want mechanical ventilation if you would never regain the ability to breathe on your own or return to a
quality of life acceptable to you.
Artificial Nutrition and Hydration
Artificial nutrition and hydration (or tube feeding) supplements or replaces ordinary eating and drinking
by giving a chemically balanced mix of nutrients and fluid through a tube placed directly into the
stomach, the upper intestine, or a vein. Artificial nutrition and hydration can save lives when used until
the body heals.
Long-term artificial nutrition and hydration may be given to people with serious intestinal disorders that
impair their ability to digest food, thereby helping them to enjoy a quality of life that is important to them.
Sometimes long-term use of tube feeding frequently is given to people with irreversible and end-stage
conditions which will not reverse the course of the disease itself or improve the quality of life. Some
health care facilities and physicians may not agree with stopping or withdrawing tube feeding. You may
want to talk with your loved ones and physician about your wishes for artificial nutrition and hydration in
your Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.
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