Page 8 - Advance Directives Proof

LIVING WILL

7 When does an Idaho Living Will go into effect?

Your living will takes effect when a medical doctor certifies that you have a terminal
and incurable illness or you are permanently unconscious or in a persistent
vegetative state.
8 What life support choices do you have within a Living Will?

There are three different choices you can make in regards to life-sustaining measures:

1. Your desire to have doctors do everything in their power to keep you alive.

2. The only life-sustaining measures you desire to have is artificial tube feeding for
nutrition (food) and hydration (water).

3. You wish to have all artificial life-sustaining treatment withheld, including nutrition
and hydration.

Here are some of the main treatment choices you will want to specify in your living will:

Life Support: Any life-sustaining procedures done to a patient to restore function to
an organ through medical intervention. Common forms of life support include CPR,
defibrillators, assisted breathing, dialysis, and artificially administered food and water.

Comfort Care: Healthcare professionals will use any means possible to relieve your
pain, including administering medication or creating a comfortable environment for
you to rest in.

Quality of Life: Many people define quality of life in their living will to notify their
family and health care professionals as to what they may want in extreme health
situations (life or death) and what constitutes a quality life for them.

No matter which of these options you choose, you will always be provided all
necessary pain medication and comfort medication.
9 If a living will says to withhold medical treatment, will medical personnel, such

as paramedics, withhold treatment based on a living will alone?

No. A living will is not self-activating. It takes effect only when one doctor has
certified that you have a terminal condition and that death is imminent. When
conditions are met, a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order is issued by your physician.
In Idaho, DNR orders are often included in Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment
(POST). The POST form can be obtained only through a physician. It is completed
and signed by a patient or his or her representative and the patient’s physician, and

8 Understanding Advanced Directives in Idaho