By Gunnar Olson
Anchorage Daily News (Alaska)
Copyright 2006 Anchorage Daily News
Alaskans who are terminally ill need not worry about having to face death twice.
Through the state’s Comfort One Program, established in 1996, a terminally ill patient can decide (with the help of his or her physician) to refuse efforts to be resuscitated when the time of death arrives. And in Anchorage, at least, paramedics will accept the patient’s decision, said Tim Garbe, an acting chief medical officer for the Anchorage Fire Department.
Garbe said paramedics verify that the patient is a member of the Comfort One Program by looking at the paperwork on-site or by having a dispatcher check state records. Beyond that, he said, the medical attention given to such patients is kept at a minimum.
“We just confirm that they have no signs of life,” Garbe said. “Our role changes at that point; we offer emotional assistance to the family.”
Garbe gave only a few reasons why paramedics in Anchorage would go against a Comfort One patient’s wishes: if his or her status as a Comfort One patient is unknown, if it can’t be confirmed or at the family’s request.
For more information about the Comfort One Program, go online to www.chems.alaska.gov/ems/comfort_one.htm.