My Dad died earlier this year of lung cancer, and when we had the discussion about his DNR, the doctor was very frank about the brutality of some of the interventions. For example, he said if Dad had a heart attack, they would put him on a board to do CPR and break all of his ribs.

It was quite an eye-opener for me. Thank you for sharing Jen.

That’s an odd thing to be told! My understanding is that the DNR is specifically for EMS response, which is why they have serial numbers (they’re tracked in some way so we don’t just randomly take out DNRs on people!). The subheading says ‘to direct the practice of EMS and Firefighters after February 1 2008′. Hospitals have their own forms. Definitely worth inquiring about. Likely your form is old… here’s a bigger image: http://www.ofm.gov.on.ca/english/Publications/images/DNRC01.gif

I have to say that we were very misinformed when we did our DNR. We were told to never call for the ambulance, as the EMR personnel HAD TO do everything with or without a DNR. I will have to look into that. Thank you for this post.