West Virginia Code 16-30C-5 – Presumed consent to cardiopulmonary resuscitation; health care facilities not required to expand to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Every person shall be presumed to consent to the administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the event of cardiac or respiratory arrest, unless one or more of the following conditions, of which the health care provider has actual knowledge, apply:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 16-30C-5
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Cardiopulmonary resuscitation: means those measures used to restore or support cardiac or respiratory function in the event of a cardiac or respiratory arrest. See West Virginia Code 16-30C-3
- Do-not-resuscitate order: means an order issued by a licensed physician that cardiopulmonary resuscitation should not be administered to a particular person. See West Virginia Code 16-30C-3
- Health care facility: means a facility established to administer and provide health care services and which is commonly known by a wide variety of titles, including, but not limited to, hospitals, medical centers, ambulatory health care facilities, physicians'. See West Virginia Code 16-30C-3
- Health care provider: means any physician, dentist, nurse, paramedic, psychologist or other person providing medical, dental, nursing, psychological or other health care services of any kind. See West Virginia Code 16-30C-3
- Home: means any place of residence other than a health care facility and includes residential board and care homes and personal care homes. See West Virginia Code 16-30C-3
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
- Qualified physician: means a physician licensed to practice medicine who has personally examined the person. See West Virginia Code 16-30C-3
- Representative: means a person designated by a principal to make health care decisions in accordance with article thirty-a of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 16-30C-3
- surrogate: means an individual eighteen years of age or older who is reasonably available, is willing to make health care decisions on behalf of an incapacitated person, possesses the capacity to make health care decisions and is identified or selected by the attending physician or advanced nurse practitioner in accordance with applicable provisions of article thirty of this chapter as the person or persons who is to make decisions pursuant to this article: Provided, That a representative named in the incapacitated person'. See West Virginia Code 16-30C-3
(1) A do-not-resuscitate order in accordance with the provisions of this article has been issued for that person;
(2) A completed living will or combined medical power of attorney and living will for that person is in effect, pursuant to the provisions of § 16-30-1 et seq. of this code, and the person is in a terminal condition; or
(3) A completed medical power of attorney for that person is in effect, pursuant to § 16-30-1 et seq. of this code, in which the person indicated that he or she does not wish to receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or his or her representative has determined that the person would not wish to receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
(4) A completed portable orders for scope of treatment form in which a qualified physician has ordered do-not-resuscitate.
Nothing in this article shall require a nursing home, personal care home, hospice, or extended care facility operated in connection with hospitals to institute or maintain the ability to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation or to expand its existing equipment, facilities, or personnel to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation: Provided, That if a health care facility does not provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation, this policy shall be communicated in writing to the person, representative, or surrogate decision maker prior to admission.