Your opinions please.

Bit of a odd topic i know.

This morning we were called to a nursing home, to a cardiac arrest, for those that don't know this means the heart has stopped beating completely or gone into a rhythm not compatible with life, dead basically!

On arrival, we found a chap well i his 90's who had been found by staff not breathing and no pulse. They had started doing CPR on the old chap. We then, because they had started, decided to give him 20 mins of advanced life support, knowing we really wouldn't be doing any good.

Now to me, it always seems very undignified to have us breaking ribs, shoving tubes down the throat, needles in arms, when in reality, even if we'd have got there ..just as he arrested, the outcome, at his age with his medical history, would have most likely been the same, and even if we had have got an output, long term he would most likley still have been brain damaged, and not survived for long at all.

At over 90, he had a good innings and died peacefully in his sleep ....it seems very wrong to thenput him all through that?  i'd just like to see what others think, people that don't see it daily, I will continue to treat all patients as to our protocol, and we are allowed to use our judgement to a certain extent, avoiding this happening when there really is no hope whatsoever ....but its a very blurred line, so we tend to air on the side of caution, and this kind of thing happens. What would you want to happen to you??

That's a tough one. One one hand I think an attempt should be done. You never know what the outcome will be. He may recover better than expected. And it would give the family piece of mind knowing that everything was done to save him.

On the other hand, if he is already gone then does it matter what's being done to his physical self? He's not there anymore.

Do people over there have DNR's?

I would not liked to have heard that such measures were taken with my 'Dad' last year when he died. 

'Dad' was in his eighties, and had been in very poor health for several years. I am so very happy that his end came without all of that trauma. He too was in a nursing home, so I'm grateful that they just let him pass. 

Our society does not understand death. Many cutlure do, but ours, no. We have to keep people alive no matter. And for the most part, we keep them alive for ourselves and not for them.

I have a living will. If the outcome looks dim, then let me go. My husband has one too.  

Sue you make a good point.

My parental unit have DNR's. My sister fought the thought of it tooth and nail and when my mom had her heart attacks last year she made it very very clear to us that we are to honor the DNR.

Very good answer Sue ... i agree completely!!  and i'm so glad your dad didn't have to endure that!! 

Your right about our culture not understanding death, i remember been told a story about an old tribe, at a certain time the tribe used to make a trek to get food etc ....and the elders used to go, when they were to old to return from the journey they used to stay there, to die, it was the way they had done it for years, and all were comfortable with it. White man came and thought it was terrible to leave them like that!! so 'rescued' them ...and took them back, or got them to hospitals ....this caused the elders a huge amount of distress, and many tried to return, then we would bring them back!!  it upset their whole culture, they were very happy with their ways, and just because it scares the hell out of us, and we don't accept it, we tried to destroy their ways!!

DNR   do not rescusitate

DNAR  do not attempt rescusitation

Thanks Jason.  

Ha! I googled it. Found a few departments of, but then came across what sounded like the right answer.