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Advance Directives

A written document which states your preferences about medical treatment if you are no longer able to do so for yourself. The AD has replaced the Living Will (LW) and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care (DPAHC) in California.

A document which gives your doctor written instructions to withhold or stop procedures that will artificially prolong your life if you are unable to communicate your wishes. It applies only if you have an incurable injury, disease or illness.  The AD has replaced this document in California, but your unexpired LW is still valid.

A document in which you name someone to be your agent to make medical decisions for you if you cannot make them yourself. This kind of power of attorney is "durable" because it retains its legal effectiveness even after the person who signed the document looses mental capacity. The AD has replaced this document in California, but your unexpired DPAHC is still valid.

A method of providing food and fluids to a patient who cannot eat or drink. For example, the patient may be fed through a tube surgically inserted through the abdominal wall directly into the stomach or through a tube that reaches the stomach through the nose or the throat.

A DNR order allows you to refuse attempts to restore heartbeat.

Any medical procedure or treatment that will prolong life and delay death. In case of a seriously ill individual, this can include complex treatments like cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), ventilator, support care in an intensive care unit (ICU) and dialysis for kidney failure; and much simpler treatments like artificially supplied nutrition and hydration.

A machine that moves air in and out of the lungs for a patient who cannot breath normally. Sometimes a ventilator is used temporarily until the patients brain and/or lungs can function again. In some cases, a ventilator must be used continuously when a patient’s brain and /or lungs are unable to recover their function.