Prepare Now for Hospital Admissions

Before you use cremation services in Solvay, NY for your loved one, you are likely going to experience a disproportionate number of hospital admissions, especially if your loved one has a chronic disease like congestive heart failure or kidney failure. However, even healthy people have accidents or get suddenly very ill and need to be admitted to the hospital, so everyone should plan for hospital admissions before they need to actually go to the hospital.

One way to prepare for hospital admissions is to have legal paperwork in place. This includes a medical power of attorney (designates someone to advocate and make medical decisions for you if you are not able to do so yourself), a living will (specifies what treatment you do and don’t want if you are dying), a Do Not Resuscitate order (specifies that if your heart stops, you do not want it restarted), and a Do Not Intubate order (specifies that if you stop breathing, you do not want artificial respiration to keep you alive).

You should designate a primary medical power of attorney and a secondary medical power of attorney. Clearly communicate your medical wishes to them and make sure each of them has copies of these documents. A good suggestion is to put the documents together in a folder and keep the folder in the trunk of the car, so they have it with them the majority of the time.

Also be sure to give your primary care provider copies of the medical documents you created (doctors write the Do Not Resuscitate and Do Not Intubate orders) to make sure they become part of your electronic medical record. While some hospitals and medical practices have done a good job of sharing medical records, many facilities are still not fully integrated, so don’t count on the hospital having access to the electronic records from your primary care physician’s office.

Another thing you will need for hospital admissions is a full list of your medications. You can create a spreadsheet that has the name, dosage, and time of day you take each medication. This allows you to easily keep your medication list current when medications and dosages are removed, changed, or added. Print copies and make sure your medical power of attorneys have copies as well.

Sometimes, in emergency situations, such as compromised airways where breathing is severely impacted or life-threatening injuries from accidents, hospitals will follow a protocol based on your medical records. Part of your medical records includes medications you are allergic to or have adverse responses to.

Often, primary care physicians forget to ask, during annual checkups or visits for specific conditions, if there are any new medications that you have allergic or adverse responses to, so any changes don’t get added to your electronic record. But, in an emergency situation, one of those medications may be the protocol for your condition.

At the best, the results could be very adverse. At the worst, you could die, not from the emergency medical condition, but from the medical treatment recommended for it.

A final thing you need for hospital admissions is a list of all surgeries and chronic health conditions (these should include medications, dosages, and time of day taken). This can give hospital personnel a quick overview of you and your health, which makes their job easier. Make sure that each of your powers of attorney have copies of this as well.

If you’d like to know about cremation services in Solvay, NY, our compassionate and experienced team at Bagozzi Twins Funeral Home, Inc. is here to help. You can visit us at our funeral home at 2601 Milton Ave., Solvay, NY 13209, or you can call us today at (315) 468-2431.