Heroic Measures to Prevent Death
Kathryn Patricelli, MAResearchers and medical professionals have spent years perfecting machines that can be used to sustain life. We have amazing medical technology; artificial breathing machines, tubes that transport food or fluid, and machines that can sometimes restart a stopped heart. Clearly, these devices can provide short-term help to people who have suffered from a traumatic injury or illness by giving their body time to recover.
Life-sustaining machines can also be utilized well after medical professionals determine that there is no brain functioning occurring and that a person's medical situation is not likely to improve or change at any point in the future. Essentially, we can be kept alive solely by machines on an indefinite basis (or for very long periods of time), without any reasonable chance of our ever regaining the ability to breathe, eat or act independently.
Due to ethical and legal concerns, hospitals have established very clear policies about the use of heroic measures. In the past, medical professionals have been sued by families for allowing a patient to die when the family believed the hospital could have prevented the death if only they had continued to provide care. Therefore, hospitals tend to use all heroic measures available to them unless there is a healthcare directive in place, or the family is willing to sign a document stating that they do not want such measures used and that they are releasing the hospital from any liability if the patient dies.
If the dying person you love has not already filled out a health care directive, urge them to do so as part of their dying "business." As mentioned previously, it is critical that a dying person make his or her wishes known in advance of their becoming incapacitated. An advance directive can reduce the possibility of family members having to make medical decisions without guidance or directions. Choosing a health care proxy by filling out a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care can also avoid a situation where well-meaning family members choose to begin or continue heroic measures that a person would not want if he or she was making the choice.
Making Peace with a Loved One's Imminent Death
Resources
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Articles
- Introduction to Death & Dying
- Planning for & Dealing with Your Own Imminent Death
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Signs of Approaching Death & Types of Care
- Signs and Symptoms of Approaching Death
- Dealing with the Imminent Death of a Loved One - Caring for a Dying Person
- Types of Care Available to Those Who Are Dying
- Heroic Measures to Prevent Death
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Dealing with a Loved One's Imminent Death
- Making Peace with a Loved One's Imminent Death
- Dealing With Your Loved One's Imminent Death - Preparations and Activities
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After a Death
- After the Death
- Funeral and Burial
- How to Behave at a Service and During the Grieving Period
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Grief & Bereavement Issues
- Grief
- Symptoms of Grief
- Factors Influencing the Grief/Bereavement Process - Unexpected Death Vs. Expected Death
- Factors Influencing the Grief/Bereavement Process - Helping Children Grieve
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Death & Dying Special Issues and Resources
- Special Issues Related To Death And Dying - Euthanasia
- Death and Dying Conclusion and Resources
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Questions and Answers
- Change of Heart After Parent's Death
- General Anxiety
- Longing For My Son
- My Dead Mother Haunts My Dreams
- Sudden Loss
- Trauma/Tragedy
- A Recent Loss
- The Grass is Always Greener...
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Book & Media Reviews
- A Commonsense Book of Death
- At the End of Words
- Before and After Loss
- Before I Die
- Being with Dying
- Beyond Goodbye
- Bodies in Motion and at Rest
- Crispin
- Death
- Death Benefits
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44 more
- Death in the Classroom
- Death Is That Man Taking Names
- Death of a Parent
- Ecstasy
- Erasing Death
- Ethical Wills
- Extreme Measures
- Facing Death: Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
- Going Through Hell Without Help From Above
- Graceful Exits
- Healing Conversations
- I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye
- Immortal Remains
- In Love With Life
- Into the Gray Zone
- Learning to Fall
- Let's Talk About Death
- Liberating Losses
- Losing Mum and Pup
- Loss
- Love, Aubrey
- Michael Rosen's Sad Book
- Mortal Dilemmas
- Murder in the Inn
- Olive's Ocean
- On Life After Death
- Peaceful Death, Joyful Rebirth
- Planning for Uncertainty
- Saving Grace
- Suffering, Death, and Identity
- Sunset Story
- The Awakening
- The Bright Hour
- The Color of Absence
- The Lovely Bones
- The Miracle
- The Modern Art of Dying
- The Other Side of Sadness
- The Suicide Tourist
- The Travelers
- To Die Well
- What Dying People Want
- When Breath Becomes Air
- Young@Heart
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Links
- [4] Associations
- [8] Information
- [1] Journals
- [1] Services
- [17] Videos
- [1] Blogs
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Videos
- Talking to Our Kids With Autism Spectrum Disorder About Death
- The Difference Between Hospice and Palliative Care
- Advance Directives
- Palliative Care Often Misunderstood
- Advanced Directives
- The Importance of Advanced Directives
- How to Set Up an Advance Healthcare Directive
- The Journey of Palliative Care: Putting Quality Back Into Life
- Planning Ahead with Advanced Directives
- Complicated Grief: Q & A with Dr. M. Katherine Shear
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7 more
- Understanding Hospice Care
- Planning for End-of-Life
- Grief through a Child's Eyes
- Palliative Care: Who is it For, What Does it Do, Why Should I Want it and When?
- What Really Matters at the End of Life
- Talking About Death Won’t Kill You
- When to Create a Living Will
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More Information
- Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Irvin Yalom, MD on Death Anxiety
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