When is Do Not Resuscitate applied

I will quote one sentence from this article.
"Only 2% of those over 85 who suffer cardiac arrest survive without significant brain damage."

And here is the full article: < https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/05/29/1177914622/a-natural-death-may-be-preferable-for-many-than-enduring-cpr&gt;

@vuk I have a DNR listed in my health paperwork. There is also a DNR engraved on my medical alert bracelet. There is also a POLST [Physician's Order for Life Sustaining Treatment] form in my paperwork, that is registered within my state of Oregon. My Advanced Care Directive includes the DNR.

Typically there are levels of the DNR, and you can choose that. Five Wishes is a great document to have, and allows you to indicates how you want things to be handled. And remember, what you choose today may change in 6 months, and you can make those changes.

It is admirable to be considering all the options now, before you need it. Last week when I had a syncopal episode at a hospital, I was glad to have my bracelet on, and see the response team refer to that.
Ginger

From what I read on the Red Cross site: about 10% of people who receive CPR outside of a hospital return to life; in a hospital it is 20%. This is not a high number, and I'm not sure how many folks function well afterward. As Ginger said, the Five Wishes is a very helpful document and it helped me get my priorities straight. Great that you can engage with these issues, and discuss.

Many people opt, to keep it simple and unambiguous, not to be resuscitated beyond perhaps 5 minutes of CPR and drug administration if their heart stops. IOW, no 'heroics', just standard CPR ...in case....but at the 5 minute mark, even with aggressive and expert CPR, you are losing ground upstairs. As stated in the article, after 80-ish, there's more damage done with the heroics such as sternum destruction, rib separations, potential for lung perforation, severe bruising, and of course the brain damage.

I had an ablation to treat my atrial fibrillation, but six days later was in the local ER. It was pretty serious with a heart rate of 180, and it seemed to be intractable. The internist came into the cubicle and gravely asked what my wishes were in case I 'coded'. At 70, I had never been asked such a question, and I wasn't prepared to deal with it at that instant. But, I did. I considered where I was in life, and felt that my disordered heart might never be the same again even if they could stabilize me. The ablation hadn't done it any good, and I was in bad shape in the three or four weeks prior to the ablation in terms of symptoms. It was awful. I asked them to take a solid crack at me, but no heroics...let me go if after a few minutes they simply couldn't restart my heart. I figured I wouldn't know the difference, and those who love me would understand that it was my wish to not live as a bed-ridden wreck of a man for a year or ten beyond that experience.

I went through this with a parent. I had the POA but the hospital was not very good and I waited too late to pull it.
If I could go back in time would have done it sooner and would have found a better hospital.
But I think it depends on the situation you are in...

thank you for sharing the article, I read it- I did not realize all the bad consequences which may come with a CPR - especially with a prolonged CPR, and especially for an older person with a chronic disease or cancer-

Thank you very much for sharing this illuminating article. I'll be having a talk with my daughter about the likely consequences of CPR and of how being allowed to "experience a natural dealth," may be a much kinder option.