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To: untrained skeptic

If you are in a car wreck and arrive unconscious, you may not be able to remove the braclet while entering a hospital. The hospital should err on the side of caution.

If someone is going to have a DNR, it should be etched onto a metal medical bracelet like ANYONE ELSE with medical information on person.

They shouldn’t designate a crips/bloods kind of color coding for whether anyone at all will be denied medical attention in an emergency.


27 posted on 01/02/2008 11:47:56 AM PST by weegee (End the Bush-Bush-Bush-Clinton/Clinton-Clinton/Clinton-Bush-Bush-Clinton/Clinton Oligarchy in 2008.)
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To: weegee
If you are in a car wreck and arrive unconscious, you may not be able to remove the braclet while entering a hospital. The hospital should err on the side of caution.

If someone is going to have a DNR, it should be etched onto a metal medical bracelet like ANYONE ELSE with medical information on person.

I agree with what you are saying, but you are talking about something different than what the article is talking about.

The article is talking about wristbands put on patients by the hospital. They are using color coded wristbands to give the staff a way to quickly tell if a patient in their care as a DNR order in effect.

Metal medical bracelets are durable, but there are a lot of situations in a hospital where you will be required to remove all metal jewelry. A metal bracelet is appropriate for wearing when going about your daily life, but not so appropriate while in the hospital. The information on the bracelet needs to get transferred to the patient's chart when the patient gets admitted, because the patient may not be able to wear the bracelet the entire time they are there.

They shouldn’t designate a crips/bloods kind of color coding for whether anyone at all will be denied medical attention in an emergency.

They problem is confusion between bracelets put on patients at different hospitals when they are transferred, or bracelets that were not removed when the patient was admitted, or the patient put on later.

While I suspect that the law varies from state to state, I also suspect that something engraved on a medical bracelet isn't going to be considered a legally binding DNR in any case. Not really enough room for the proper text and signatures.

A DNR is typically something that you have your Doctor put in your medical file, and you can submit to hospitals to keep on file. Some people with terminal illnesses carry such documents with them and make sure people they are around know of the existence of such documents to prevent EMTs or good samaritans from resuscitating them, but I don't think a simple medical alert bracelet is going to be accepted as binding.

28 posted on 01/02/2008 12:20:25 PM PST by untrained skeptic
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