“What happens when you decide to remove life support?”
My mom's friend is on life support after a really bad car accident, and her family said that she's brain dead. They're considering taking her off life support. What happens when you decide to take someone off of life support?
2 Answers
Involve hospice service
God bless, this is an always difficult decision.
Details may vary state to state. The medical power of attorney makes that decision. Once that decision is made, all treatments intended to prolong life is suspended, and patient is made comfort care. The patient will have IV sedatives, pain medications, anti nausea medications started before the breathing tube is removed and all monitoring equipment removed. The goal of care will now be made for comfort. Since the patient may be unable to express discomfort either verbally or non-verbally, the nursing staff will go by vital signs, mostly increased respiration rates, increased heart rate, or facial expressions in giving the comfort medications (sedatives and pain medications). Pending on the cause of the patient's respiratory failure, which may be blunt trauma to the brain causing irreversible cerebral edema, or a brain hemorrhage, it may take a few hours before the patient passes away. Once the patient passes away, a time of death will be determined by the physician. The county coroner's office will be informed, and they will determine if an autopsy will be performed. In this situation, most likely, it will not be needed. Family will be allowed to be with the patient for a few hours. Once they are ready, the patient usually goes to the funeral home of the family's choice. If it has not yet been decided, the patient will rest in the hospital's morgue until that determination is made.
Administrative processes will begin in the county and state levels. Most financial accounts will be frozen that contains the patient's name. It will be released once the state processes the death certificate that has been completed by the physician on record for the patient's time of death and the coroner. The finances and estate will then be made available to the patient's designee as assigned by her will, or next of kin as determined by the state laws. This is when the death certificates are needed, and I tell family to get as many official copies as they can.
This is from my experience professionally, and personally.
Dr. Eddie Chen, DO
Details may vary state to state. The medical power of attorney makes that decision. Once that decision is made, all treatments intended to prolong life is suspended, and patient is made comfort care. The patient will have IV sedatives, pain medications, anti nausea medications started before the breathing tube is removed and all monitoring equipment removed. The goal of care will now be made for comfort. Since the patient may be unable to express discomfort either verbally or non-verbally, the nursing staff will go by vital signs, mostly increased respiration rates, increased heart rate, or facial expressions in giving the comfort medications (sedatives and pain medications). Pending on the cause of the patient's respiratory failure, which may be blunt trauma to the brain causing irreversible cerebral edema, or a brain hemorrhage, it may take a few hours before the patient passes away. Once the patient passes away, a time of death will be determined by the physician. The county coroner's office will be informed, and they will determine if an autopsy will be performed. In this situation, most likely, it will not be needed. Family will be allowed to be with the patient for a few hours. Once they are ready, the patient usually goes to the funeral home of the family's choice. If it has not yet been decided, the patient will rest in the hospital's morgue until that determination is made.
Administrative processes will begin in the county and state levels. Most financial accounts will be frozen that contains the patient's name. It will be released once the state processes the death certificate that has been completed by the physician on record for the patient's time of death and the coroner. The finances and estate will then be made available to the patient's designee as assigned by her will, or next of kin as determined by the state laws. This is when the death certificates are needed, and I tell family to get as many official copies as they can.
This is from my experience professionally, and personally.
Dr. Eddie Chen, DO
