Hi, this is Clayton Vandiver, your Lightkeeper,
and this summer we have a very special treat
for you. It's called Lightkeepers Podcast Shorts.
It's not a new clothing line, but that's a pretty
good idea. Actually, it's just shorter episodes,
under 10 minutes long, of our most popular episodes
that we keep getting requests to play again.
So here's part two of the Lightkeepers Podcast
Shorts. Hello and welcome to the Light Keepers
podcast. I'm Clayton Vandiver, your Light Keeper,
with a show dedicated to everyone who wants to
get the most out of life that they can. We don't
talk about the end of life. We focus on the quality
of life. My co -host on this episode, Charlene,
a licensed clinical social worker, she'll be
helping us answer this week's question, to be
or not to be. The question of DNR and what that
means to you and the medical community and so
much more on this edition of the Light Keepers
podcast. Before we start, I'd like to invite
you to please leave your questions or comments
below. We love to hear from you. So being resuscitated
can sometimes do more harm than good. That's
important to know. Most people don't know how
violent. I had no idea that it was really that
traumatic a procedure. It can be. Well, once
you decide that it's right for you, how do you
let the medical community know that you don't
want resuscitation? So there's a couple of different
important things that need to take place here.
First and foremost, a person needs to have that
discussion with their family because guess what?
Once someone is unconscious, your family or your
medical decision maker, they're going to be the
ones calling the shots for you anyway. Sure.
So you're going to want to make sure that they're
on board with your wishes. First place to start
is having that discussion with your family. The
next place to start is going to be to have that
discussion with your doctor because they're going
to be the one signing off on it anyway. It is
a medical order. It does require physician signature.
And so you're going to need to have that conversation.
But the important thing is if you go into the
hospital for any procedures, if you're hospitalized,
anything like that, the first thing that you
want to make sure is that, one, your do not resuscitate
order is in your chart and two your medical team
knows that it's there ah so what about in an
accident situation where the emergency responders
or paramedics are not going to know you have
a dnr so that one can be a little trickier because
in an accident A lot can happen. You know, you
may have a do not resuscitate card in your wallet.
Oh, okay. But in an emergency, say for example
in a car accident, most of the time you're already
on the stretcher in the ambulance on the way
to the hospital before the state trooper riding
up the accident actually bothers to look in your
wallet. Oh, I see. If you have a do not resuscitate
bracelet, there are medical alert bracelets that
you can wear that indicate that you have a do
not resuscitate order. If you're in a bad enough
car accident, that bracelet might not have stayed
on. They might not take the time to look at it
because... imminently it's more important to
try to save your life that's what they're out
there when in the field in an emergency their
first response is always first and foremost going
to be to preserve life okay there is no guarantee
oh i understand that you're not going to have
resuscitation attempted if you are in an accident
outside of your residence now if you are in your
residence I always coach people to have their
resuscitate order, their do not resuscitate order,
prominently posted. Paramedics are trained to
look like on the door of the refrigerator or
on the bedroom door or in some cases even taped
to the foot of the bed. I see. Well, how often,
this all begs the really important question,
how often are DNRs inadvertently? perhaps, or
because it's their policy to just do what they
can right away, how often do they get violated
by medical personnel, who I'm sure aren't trying
to do that, but I know it happens. So there are
no clear statistics on that. I can tell you that
a wrongful resuscitation, as it's referred to,
does happen often enough that it makes the news.
There are several news reports in the last decade
of families that filed lawsuits because their
loved one suffered after being resuscitated,
wrongfully so. It is listed as a medical error,
and there was a very interesting study that was
published in 2017 that stated in the United States
medical error was the third leading cause of
death. So it's entirely possible that among those
medical errors, there could be some wrongful
resuscitations that then later did pass. I understand.
Well, it's a complicated issue. What do you think
would help the situation, ideally, for the people
that you counsel and for our listeners and our
viewers? Education. Education, communication.
And making sure that your medical team is aware
of your wishes and what you want. Sure. Well,
and that is the whole point then. Communication
is what makes all of our medical... concerns
work a little bit better in the medical system
and we know a little bit more now about do not
resuscitate your rights your medical personnel
what they may need to be reminded of about your
wishes of course this is all a highly personal
choice and no conversation we have on the light
keepers podcast should ever take the place of
your own medical care team or other personal
advisor who should always be consulted by you
on your specific situational needs. And it's
always good to talk about quality of life and
events because every single one of us faces some
of these situations in our lives. Well, we hope
you found some information that was helpful to
you on this edition of the Light Keepers podcast.
Please leave your questions or comments below.
We love to hear from you. For more information
on A Guiding Light, please visit the website
at a guiding light .org or to make a tax deductible
contribution and help those less fortunate find
the information and resources they need please
visit the donation page on the website where
you will find tax information and the address
to send a check or it's also on the screen right
below me we're so grateful for your support and
sincerely hope that you will join us in coming
weeks We still have topics like organ donors
and hospitals, funeral homes and your plans,
the gap between medical jargon and medical care,
and legal jargon. Metabolized grief, ingesting
grief, normalizing loss, hospice. It's not just
for the last few days. or hours, medical plans
and paperwork, and of course, your questions
and comments. We love to hear from you. Speaking
of that, hit the like and subscribe buttons and
turn on that notify bell so you catch every episode.
I'm Clayton Vandiver, the Light Keeper. We'll
see you next time.