6 - Sunday, March 12, 1989 — West Vancouver Villager

‘Living will’ guides doctor, family in decisions

A FAMILY is gathered at the bedside of an ailing family
member who is being kept alive by life-support systems. No
longer able to consult with the patient, the family struggles
to decide whether to ‘pull the plug.’

Many people express their desire
not to be sustained by life-support
systems in the case of prolonged
hospitalization, but how many put
it in writing?

Dr. Robin Bell-Irving, medical
director of Evergreen House at
Lions Gate Hospital, urges people
of all ages to ‘‘have their say be-
fore the crisis comes."”

This can be done by writing a
‘living will’, a document ‘‘you sign

tives, authorizing your doctor to
not hook you up to life-support
systems if your case looks hope-
less,"* explains Dr. Bell-Irving,
who will be hosting a free public
meeting on living wills and medical
ethics Wednesday, March 15 at
7:30 p.m. at the West Vancouver

United Church.

Dr. Bell-Irving is head of the
Medical Ethics Committee for
Evergreen House, the extended
care unit at LGH. The committee,
formed three years ago, meets once
a month to review individual cases
in which medical-ethical decisions
are required regarding a patient's
quality of life.

Members of the committee in-
clude a fawyer, intensive care
nurse, intensive care: doctor,
geriatric doctor and a social service
worker. The living will was design-
ed and is being distributed by the
committee to assure that people in

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care can communicate their wishes
while they are still able.

“The problem (of life support)
is increasingly common,”’ remark-
ed Bell-Irving. ‘‘One reason is the
aging of the general population,
the other is our health care is too
good.”* He points out that, con-
trary to popular belief, the Hip-
pocratic oath does not advocate
sustaining life ‘tat all costs’* but
rather, “the emphasis is on the
comfort of the person (and) sus-
taining the person through dying.’

Ethical decisions concerning
life-support systems are not con-
fined to the elderly, however. Ad-

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vances in life sustaining technology
permeate to many areas of hospital
care, affecting all age groups.

Bell-Irving warns that, to date,
“our ethics have not caught up
with the new tools, and we must be
careful they (new technologies)
don’t use us instead of the other
way around.”*

Although not a legally binding
document, the living will acts as a
guideline for doctors and family.

Copies of the will are available
in advance at the West Vancouver
United Church office, 2062 Es-
quimalt, or call 922-9171. :