NoBlood

We never know when an emergency will strike.

Falling to Prepare is Preparing to Fail!

What should we do to Be Prepared? Let's talk about it here.

__________________
Mr. Jan B. Wade
Blood Management Consultant
Enhance Outcomes - Control Cost
For Information Call - 360 296-1807
Email

One thing that I cannot stress enough is the need for a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care to be filled out in advance of an emergency, with copies given to your Agent, your doctor, your family and, if possible, your hospital of choice.

It is the one reliable and legally binding voice that will speak for you when you cannot speak for yourself.

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"If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." - Maslow

Another thing is we have to stay health not just when we are ill but before, that is if we tends to have lower blood counts, we'd better do something, like eat more healthy to build it up.

Don't assume that your doctor supports your decision to refuse blood. Make sure that your physician understands your position and will abide by it. It is much better to discuss this on a routine visit to the doctor than have to address it for the first time in the midddle of an emergency.

Your doctor's office should also have a copy of your advance directive and a copy of your "No Blood Transfusion" card in your chart.

If you want to be prepared for an emergency you must assume (be prepared for) several things 1) You will arrive at the Emergency Room unable to speak for yourself 2) Emergency Room Doctors or Surgeons will transfuse blood based on a standard treatment protocol unless instructed not to by an advance directive or an available family member 3) It is highly unlikely that your primary physician will be part of the treatment team in ER or Surgery. The primary physician might find out about your hospitalization days later or not at all.

Being unable to communicate your wishes you must have something with you that can speak for you - Advance Healthcare Directives or Durable Power of Attorney forms speak for you when you can't speak for yourself. They can tell physicians that you do not want blood under any circumstances or that you will accept blood only after available/applicable alternatives have been used. By taking a blood avoidance posture blood transfusions can often be avoided.


See New Thread - http://noblood.org/vbforums/showthre...=&threadid=169

__________________
Mr. Jan B. Wade
Blood Management Consultant
Enhance Outcomes - Control Cost
For Information Call - 360 296-1807
Email

This is true; however I don't think it hurts to be sure you have a doctor that will support you. Perhaps the measures I mentioned would apply more in a non-emergent situation (such as pre-op visits). It never hurts to cover all your bases these days.

One additional thing to keep in mind if you are undergoing pre-arranged surgery is that final decisions concerning your life often rest with the anesthesiologist. In some cases, the anesthesiologist can overrule your primary physician in life or death decisions. Since most of us don't have the luxury of pre-selecting our anesthetist, it is important that you make sure that you have a pre-surgical meeting with him/her in the prep room and that he/she is willing to abide by your decision prior to being anesthetized.

__________________
"If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." - Maslow

We keep a copy of our Durable Power of Attorney in each vehicle glove compartment along with our car insurance and registration and we put on the outside of the envelope-PLEASE OPEN IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY. We also put in our billfold a note by our drivers license to get the info out of the glove compartment. That way, they will have it at the hospital.

As a family, we have prepared a binder with important reference material, copies of our Advanced Medical Directive and our Durable Power of Attorney.
We keep the binder right by the front door, so in case of an emergency, no one needs to hunt for it.
We often check with each other to make sure we have our AMD on us, before leaving the house.
Like highlivin posted, we too have a label on our drivers license advising to look for the AMD.

Most accidents happen when we are in or near our homes so it is a wise precaution to check in advance to see which hospital an ambulance/paramedic would take you to. Then you can put some feelers out to see what the attitude of the hospital staff is to bloodless surgery. There are still some prejudiced people out there and if we can avoid them it will be to our advantage. If we know that a particular hospital has a negative attitude we can ask that we be taken to one that we know has a more positive attitude - even if it involves a longer journey - it will be worth it in the longer term.