This is a really difficult blog and a difficult subject for many patients and their families (and Doctors too). Rather than typing out a long blog, we'd like, instead, to show you this excellent short film by Dr Mark Taubert and colleagues at "TalkCPR".
The film is all about patients' wishes for resuscitation in the event of death and the ability to discuss and clarify these wishes beforehand. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation can be a traumatic experience and not necessarily the right decision for everyone. Patients can highlight their wishes in the event of their heart stopping by discussing a "DNACPR" form with a Doctor in advance of such an event in order to make their wishes clear to their family, ambulance and healthcare staff. This is usually done in a scenario where death is expected due to terminal illness or extreme frailty. The following short film outlines the issues much better than we can in this blog. It's a difficult subject, but worth watching.