Today, more than ever, people are knowledgeable about directing their own health care and specifying their wishes in the event that they become unable to make medical decisions. But here’s the big question: How does the interpretation of a living will impact lifesaving care?

Things become confusing since advance directives can take many forms including a living will, a durable power of attorney for health care, or a do not resusitate (DNR) order, which is a request not to have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if your heart stops or if you stop breathing.

In general, these documents are statements about what you do and do not want if you can’t speak for yourself.  Though they are to protect your wishes, studies have shown that is some confusion about what they mean and how to implement them in a medical emergency when 911 is called.

In fact, researchers at Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pennsylvania found that there is a lack of education and understanding in what sets a living will in motion in a pre-hospital setting among some EMS personnel who may misinterpret what a patient’s living will means, thus affecting the lifesaving measures taken (or not taken).

To combat this issue, the key is to be very clear in your directives. Even when my mother had cancer, she always said that she didn’t want to be DNR in case something else not related to the cancer happened to her. She wanted someone to give it a shot in case she had a heart attack since it wasn’t related to her cancer.

Case in point: Know that living wills are not the same as DNR orders. Someone can have a living will and still have lifesaving measures, it just specifies which measures (such as CPR, heart shock, a breathing tube, etc.) are to be taken. The lesson here? Speak with someone who’s knowledgeable about living wills, and be sure to implement a clearly defined code status into yours.

-Elizabeth Thielke