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I think I might get a similar tattoo, but with a URL, QR code, and a chip. The url and QR code will point to a github repo with my DNR. Which I will sign with a

I think I might get a similar tattoo, but with a URL, QR code, and a chip. The url and QR code will point to a github repo with my DNR. Which I will sign with a "No really, I mean it" statement that is cryptographically signed, maybe once a day, once a week, something like that. The chip will also have the key to authenticate the git signatures. And, in the DNR, I will have directions to contact my pre-paid attorney, with further direction to summon them to the ICU and make sure my wishes are carried out.

hhmc 9y ago
That sounds completely intractable in an emergency situation.
- jstanley 9y ago
  Perhaps it could be an embedded computer with a small display just under his skin that asks each morning whether he'd like to be resuscitated that day and records his response. If it detects that he has become unconscious (because his pulse has stopped?) it could display a bold "DNR" on the display, and possibly play some audio to that effect as well. It actually seems like it would only take an order of magnitude or 2 of miniaturisation before this is an easy weekend project...
  - pc86 9y ago
    Or you can just file a normal DNR through the normal process like a normal person.
    - killjoywashere 9y ago
      But I'm a doctor, and know how eager my colleagues are to blow past a DNR. The attorney thing has actually been deployed in practice.
      - pc86 9y ago
        So when someone is in cardiac arrest and they have a URL and QR code tattoo you're going to stop treatment while you debug their shitcode to figure out whether it's even relevant to what's happening?
        killjoywashere 9y ago
        It's not the ER that I'm worried about. It's the ICU.
creep 9y ago
For curiosity's sake, if you're comfortable telling me, why would you not want to be resuscitated?
- AdamJacobMuller 9y ago
  Depending on the type and level of resuscitation there is a very small chance of returning to 100% normal function and a significant chance of spending the last days/weeks/months of your life in a hospital.
- Simon_says 9y ago
  The people who go to the trouble to get a DNR usually have pretty poor quality of life. Given the trauma of a resuscitation with broken ribs, possible brain damage from a minute or two without oxygen, they think that their quality of life might be even lower post-resuscitation, and frequently they're not even buying that much additional time. They might think that dying with some dignity and less pain is better than holding on for a couple more miserable days.
bbctol 9y ago
"Nurse, bring the crash cart!" "Hang on, this guy's got a... some kind of weird tattoo?" "No time to worry about that, he's flatlining! Now start compressions, and break a few ribs if you have to!"
pc86 9y ago
This is satire, right?
moonbug22 9y ago
That's mental.
crispyambulance 9y ago
I know you're kidding, but really, the only reliable way to ensure DNR wishes are carried out in the USA is by having a notarized "health care directives" document drawn up by an elderlaw attorney and have it filed with your hospital in advance by you or a loved one that has power-of-attorney over you (which itself requires a document from an elderlaw attorney).
- dimva 9y ago
  And what if you are hospitalized by another hospital? Seems like that's what happened to this guy. If he didn't have that tattoo they wouldn't have even bothered to figure out if he had a valid DNR document before resuscitating him.
  - crispyambulance 9y ago
    Well, if you can't get the DNR document filed at the hospital (or a loved one isn't there to provide it immediately upon arrival)... the hospital will resuscitate, AFAIK. Tattoos are really great signalling for motorocycle gangs and hipsters, but the nuances that one can use to discern satire, hubris, or seriousness just don't work well in an emergency room.
  - fjsolwmv 9y ago
    It's a statewide database

hhmc 9y ago

That sounds completely intractable in an emergency situation.

jstanley 9y ago
Perhaps it could be an embedded computer with a small display just under his skin that asks each morning whether he'd like to be resuscitated that day and records his response. If it detects that he has become unconscious (because his pulse has stopped?) it could display a bold "DNR" on the display, and possibly play some audio to that effect as well. It actually seems like it would only take an order of magnitude or 2 of miniaturisation before this is an easy weekend project...
- pc86 9y ago
  Or you can just file a normal DNR through the normal process like a normal person.
  - killjoywashere 9y ago
    But I'm a doctor, and know how eager my colleagues are to blow past a DNR. The attorney thing has actually been deployed in practice.
    - pc86 9y ago
      So when someone is in cardiac arrest and they have a URL and QR code tattoo you're going to stop treatment while you debug their shitcode to figure out whether it's even relevant to what's happening?
      - killjoywashere 9y ago
        It's not the ER that I'm worried about. It's the ICU.

creep 9y ago

For curiosity's sake, if you're comfortable telling me, why would you not want to be resuscitated?

AdamJacobMuller 9y ago
Depending on the type and level of resuscitation there is a very small chance of returning to 100% normal function and a significant chance of spending the last days/weeks/months of your life in a hospital.
Simon_says 9y ago
The people who go to the trouble to get a DNR usually have pretty poor quality of life. Given the trauma of a resuscitation with broken ribs, possible brain damage from a minute or two without oxygen, they think that their quality of life might be even lower post-resuscitation, and frequently they're not even buying that much additional time. They might think that dying with some dignity and less pain is better than holding on for a couple more miserable days.

bbctol 9y ago

"Nurse, bring the crash cart!" "Hang on, this guy's got a... some kind of weird tattoo?" "No time to worry about that, he's flatlining! Now start compressions, and break a few ribs if you have to!"

pc86 9y ago

This is satire, right?

moonbug22 9y ago

That's mental.

crispyambulance 9y ago

I know you're kidding, but really, the only reliable way to ensure DNR wishes are carried out in the USA is by having a notarized "health care directives" document drawn up by an elderlaw attorney and have it filed with your hospital in advance by you or a loved one that has power-of-attorney over you (which itself requires a document from an elderlaw attorney).

dimva 9y ago
And what if you are hospitalized by another hospital? Seems like that's what happened to this guy. If he didn't have that tattoo they wouldn't have even bothered to figure out if he had a valid DNR document before resuscitating him.
- crispyambulance 9y ago
  Well, if you can't get the DNR document filed at the hospital (or a loved one isn't there to provide it immediately upon arrival)... the hospital will resuscitate, AFAIK. Tattoos are really great signalling for motorocycle gangs and hipsters, but the nuances that one can use to discern satire, hubris, or seriousness just don't work well in an emergency room.
- fjsolwmv 9y ago
  It's a statewide database