[dana.acker]

When Trish was admitted through the hospital ER, she was unconscious and quite confused from all the toxins in her blood (more on this later), they tagged her with all kinds of plastic wrist bracelets; “Fall Risk,” ones with scannable barcodes, etc. Her second day in, our granddaughter (who watches true medical programs) asked if we knew she had a purple bracelet? Purple, she informed us, meant “DO NOT RESUSCITATE.” Trish never gave that declaration, and if she had, she did in a state of somewhere between extreme confusion and semi-consciousness, where she was not fully responsible. Neither her immediate family nor I gave permission for such. But had her heart stopped, it was explained to us, even CPR would not be administered. No one from the hospital side took accountability for placing it on her, and there exists no paperwork granting the authority to place it on her. We raised hell, and had the charge nurse officially cut it off of her. Moral of the story: be ever vigilant of your loved ones in the hospital. Never take anything for granted. Had her heart stopped and we hadn’t noticed one of many bracelets, I’d be accepting your condolences, rather than raising your awareness.