WEBVTT

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Hi everybody, Clayton Vandiver, your Lightkeeper

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here, and for this summer we have a real treat

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for you. Lightkeepers Podcast Shorts. No, that's

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not a new clothing line. What it is, is short

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versions of some of our most popular episodes

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that we keep getting requests to show you again.

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So we've cut them down, made them all less than

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10 minutes long, and here you go with part one

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of the Lightkeepers Podcast Shorts. Hello and

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welcome to the Light Keepers podcast. I'm Clayton

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Vandiver, your Light Keeper, with a show dedicated

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to everyone who wants to get the most out of

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life that they can. We don't talk about the end

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of life. We focus on the quality of life. My

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co -host on this episode, Charlene, a licensed

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clinical social worker, she'll be helping us

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answer this week's question, to be or not to

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be. The question of DNR and what that means to

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you and the medical community and so much more

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on this edition of the Light Keepers podcast.

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Before we start, I'd like to invite you to please

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leave your questions or comments below. We love

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to hear from you. This week's topic, DNR, an

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acronym that stands for Do Not Resuscitate. Once

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again with us is Charlene, a licensed clinical

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social worker who has a lot of great information

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about DNR for us. Hi, Charlene. Hi. Thank you

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for joining us this evening. My pleasure. And

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the first thing I guess we need to establish

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for our guests. for our listeners and viewers

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is exactly what is DNR? Ah, that's a good question.

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So a do not resuscitate order is exactly what

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it sounds like. It's a medical order that has

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to be signed by an individual and that individual's

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physician stating that that person does not want

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to be resuscitated if their heart stops. Now,

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what this means is that if someone's heart stops,

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they will not receive CPR, defibrillation, anything

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like that to try to get their heart restarted.

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Now, not everyone can be a DNR, even if you want

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to be. Oh, okay. Not everyone can be. DNRs are

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usually reserved for individuals who are maybe

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elderly and frail, someone with a terminal illness.

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Not just anyone can get a do not resuscitate

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order just because they don't want their heart

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to be restarted if their heart stops. There has

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to be a good medical reason behind it. Well,

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that begs a very good question then. Why would

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someone not want to be resuscitated if they were

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injured or if they have a negative health event?

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Why is it so important to tell the medical community

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that you have a do not resuscitate? So there's

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a lot of important reasons. First of all, if

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you are someone who maybe has a terminal illness

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and you have that do not resuscitate order, you

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don't want to be resuscitated only to have to

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die again later. The reason it's so important

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for your medical team to know that you have that

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order is because without that order, the medical...

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the medical community, they are required to do

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everything they can to keep you alive. Really?

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Yes. Okay. And so what that means is that unless

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you have a piece of paper in your medical chart

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that your doctor is aware of, don't assume doctors

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read charts, first of all. Okay, that's a good

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point. But you have to have a piece of paper

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in your chart that your medical team is aware

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of. Otherwise, if your heart stops, they're going

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to do chest compressions. They're going to do

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defibrillation, which is the electric shock.

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And there's a very good chance that you're going

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to be intubated and put on a ventilator. And

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that's the sticking point. That's what a lot

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of people don't want. Well, because those procedures

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would actually potentially do more harm than

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good if you indeed were close to the end of life

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anyway. Potentially. They can actually hurt you.

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How much of an impact do they typically have

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when you have chest compressions and those sorts

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of procedures done? So chest compressions can

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be a very violent procedure. The heart is protected

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behind the ribs for a reason. It's a very delicate

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organ that keeps us alive. But what that means

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is if it stops, you have to move those ribs to

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get the heart restarted, to manipulate it back,

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which means there's a very good chance in the

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CPR process that ribs are going to be broken.

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Wow. Ribs can be broken, sternum can be cracked,

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lungs can be punctured. There's a lot of injuries

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that can happen in the resuscitation process.

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Now, for some people, that risk of injury is

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worth it to have that opportunity to come back.

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Sure. But if you're in a frail condition, if

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you're maybe very elderly, very frail, or very

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sickly, those injuries are just going to add

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on to the very reason you wanted that do not

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resuscitate order in the first place. That makes

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a very good point that there is a time when having

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that in place could actually preserve a little

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bit of quality of life a little bit longer or

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allow you to go when your time is... without

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interventions that you didn't want. And the way

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that we often refer to it in the industry is

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allowing a natural death. And what that means

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is you're allowed to die naturally with only

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the medication necessary for comfort. Well, we

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hope you found some information that was helpful

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to you on this edition of the Light Keepers podcast.

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Please leave your questions or comments below.

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We love to hear from you. For more information

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on A Guiding Light, please visit the website

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at aguidinglight .org, or to make a tax -deductible

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contribution and help those less fortunate find

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the information and resources they need, please

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visit the donation page on the website where

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you will find tax information and the address

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to send a check, or it's also on the screen right

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below me. We're so grateful for your support

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and sincerely hope that you will join us in coming

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weeks. We still have topics like organ donors

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and hospitals, funeral homes and your plans,

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the gap between medical jargon and medical care,

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and legal jargon. metabolized grief, ingesting

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grief, normalizing loss, hospice. It's not just

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for the last few days or hours. Medical plans

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and paperwork, and of course, your questions

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and comments. We love to hear from you. Speaking

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of that, hit the like and subscribe buttons and

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turn on that notify bell so you catch every episode.

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I'm Clayton Vandiver, the Light Keeper. We'll

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see you next time. Stay tuned for part two of

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this special episode of Light Keepers Podcast

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Shorts. Remember to subscribe. We'll see you

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next time.