Do not resuscitate: Man choked to death after paramedics stood down

Experts are calling for "do not resuscitate" orders to be scrapped, saying they are being misused and putting people's lives at risk. One woman told BBC News that her elderly father might still be alive if the DNR in his medical file had been properly checked.

When Robert Murray began choking on a piece of fruit at breakfast, staff at his care home called 999. He'd stopped breathing and the ambulance service operator immediately sent paramedics to attend.

But seconds later, the care home told the dispatcher that the 80-year-old had a do not resuscitate form (DNR) in his medical records. The paramedics were stood down. Mr Murray died minutes later.

However, it was all a terrible mistake. It hadn't been made clear to the ambulance service that Mr Murray was choking - the DNR was only meant to apply should he have a cardiac arrest.

Mr Murray's death, at a nursing home in Eastbourne in June 2021, is an example of what experts call "mission creep" in the use of DNR - also known as DNACPR (Do Not Attempt Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation) - decisions.

Researchers from Essex University say some care home residents are "being inappropriately denied transfer to hospital or access to certain medicines" due to the recommendations.

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Source: BBC News, 16 May 2023