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. In Georgia, a written physician DNR order or POLST is what gives healthcare providers and EMS an order to withhold CPR; a family member's statement alone is not a substitute for that order.

A private note or verbal family statement alone may not be enough when EMS arrives at the house. Ask the treating physician to document the order using the current Georgia DNR/POLST process and keep the current order accessible.

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 or other required physician order, the form may not be honored. EMS personnel need a current, verifiable physician order; a family-created form without one does not substitute for it.

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.

For care outside the hospital, keep the current order accessible and confirm the facility's and local EMS protocol. In practice, responders need to be able to verify:

• A current written DNR order or Georgia POLST, completed through the treating physician's process
• 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 verify a current order, they may begin resuscitation. "But my mother told me she doesn't want CPR" is not a substitute for a verifiable physician order.

The Comfort Care / POLST Connection

Georgia's Department of Public Health provides a POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) form under O.C.G.A. § 31-1-4, 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. It is intended to travel with the patient across care settings (home, hospital, nursing facility) so the patient's orders can be verified during an emergency.

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 or authorized representative can ask the physician to cancel or update the DNR at any time. Communicate the change immediately to all care providers and EMS access points; do not rely only on destroying a copy of the form.

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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