Georgia Do Not Resuscitate Form: DNR Requirements and How to Complete One

Your parent has a terminal diagnosis. They've told you clearly — they don't want CPR, intubation, or mechanical ventilation if their heart stops. But without a signed DNR form, every paramedic and emergency room physician in Georgia is legally obligated to perform full resuscitation measures.

Verbal wishes don't count. A note in the medical chart doesn't count when EMS arrives at the house. Only a properly completed Georgia DNR form stops the default protocol of aggressive intervention.

DNR vs. Advance Directive — They're Different Documents

A Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care expresses your parent's treatment preferences for end-of-life situations and designates a healthcare agent to make decisions. But an advance directive is a planning document — it guides future medical decisions.

A Do Not Resuscitate order is a medical order. It's a physician's directive to other healthcare providers (including paramedics, emergency room staff, and hospital nurses) to withhold CPR and life-sustaining interventions when the patient experiences cardiac or respiratory arrest.

Your parent needs both. The advance directive handles decision-making authority and treatment preferences across all medical situations. The DNR specifically addresses what happens in the moment the heart stops.

Who Can Complete a Georgia DNR

The DNR is a medical order, not a legal form the patient fills out independently. It requires:

1. The patient's consent — your parent must agree to the DNR, or their healthcare agent must consent on their behalf if they lack capacity
2. A physician's signature — the attending physician must sign the order

Without the physician's signature, the form has no legal effect. EMS personnel are trained to look for a signed physician's order — a form without one doesn't stop resuscitation.

If your parent wants a DNR but their physician won't sign one (some physicians have ethical objections), your parent can request a transfer of care to a physician who will.

Making the DNR Effective Outside the Hospital

A DNR order in the hospital chart applies within that facility. But if your parent lives at home or in a personal care home, and 911 is called during a cardiac event, the paramedics who arrive are not reading hospital records. They need to see a form.

Georgia's out-of-hospital DNR protocol requires:

• A completed Georgia DNR form or its equivalent
• The form must be immediately accessible — posted on the refrigerator, kept in a bedside drawer, or worn as a medical alert bracelet/medallion
• EMS personnel will follow the DNR only if they can verify it at the scene

If paramedics arrive and cannot locate a valid DNR form, they will perform full resuscitation. "But my mother told me she doesn't want CPR" will not stop the protocol.

The Comfort Care / POLST Connection

Georgia participates in the POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) paradigm, which provides a more comprehensive set of medical orders beyond just DNR. A POLST form covers:

• Resuscitation preferences (full CPR vs. DNR)
• Medical interventions (full treatment vs. comfort-focused treatment)
• Artificially administered nutrition (feeding tubes)

POLST is designed for patients with serious illness or frailty — which includes most elderly parents facing end-of-life care decisions. It travels with the patient across care settings (home, hospital, nursing facility) and is recognized by EMS, hospitals, and care facilities throughout Georgia.

Like a DNR, POLST requires a physician's signature. Unlike an advance directive, it's a medical order — not a patient planning document.

Common Problems

The "panic call" override. Family members who are present when a parent's heart stops often call 911 reflexively, even when a DNR is in place. Once EMS is dispatched, paramedics are legally required to assess the situation and look for a DNR. If the DNR is accessible, they'll follow it. If a family member becomes agitated and demands resuscitation, the situation becomes complicated.

Facility transfers. When a parent moves from home to a personal care home, or from one facility to another, the DNR may not transfer automatically. Confirm with the new facility that they have the DNR on file and that their staff are aware of the order.

Revoking the DNR. Your parent can revoke their DNR at any time — by telling their physician, by destroying the form, or through their healthcare agent. The revocation should be communicated immediately to all care providers and EMS access points.

The Legal Authority Connection

If your parent has capacity, they consent to the DNR directly with their physician. If they've lost capacity, their designated healthcare agent under a Georgia Advance Directive can consent to the DNR on their behalf.

Without an advance directive and without capacity, consent falls to the next-of-kin hierarchy — which can delay the DNR order if family members disagree, or complicate matters if multiple children have different views on end-of-life care.

The Georgia Power of Attorney & Guardianship Kit includes the advance directive with healthcare agent designation, ensuring that end-of-life decisions — including DNR orders — are handled by the person your parent actually chose, not a default legal hierarchy.

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