Planning for the sunset of your life
South African Living Wills
Principles of the Living Will Society
Return Home
How to obtain a Living Will
Implementing your Living Will
An explantion of Informed Consent
Guidelines for Medical Practitioners
The Religious Aspect
2013 Newsletter (Number 49)
 The Living Will Document

An advance directive, called 'The Living Will', was devised to stand as a declaration of one's non-consent to artificial life-support in the event of one being unable to communicate when dying.

The Living Will is addressed to your family, your physician and any health authority, and states:

"If the time comes when I can no longer take part in decisions for my own future, let this declaration stand as my directive.

If there is no reasonable prospect of my recovery from physical illness or impairment expected to cause me severe distress or to render me incapable of rational existence, I do not give my consent to be kept alive by artificial means, including any pacemaker, nor do I give my consent to any form of tube-feeding when I am dying; and I request that I receive whatever quantity of drugs and intravenous fluids as may be required to keep me free from pain or distress even if the moment of death is hastened.

DO NOT RESUSCITATE: I do not give my consent to any person's attempt at resuscitation, should my heart and breathing stop and my prognosis is hopeless."

Three (or more) original Living Wills should be signed when of sound mind and after careful consideration, in the presence of two witnesses. It is imperative to share this decision with anyone who may have to implement The Living Will i.e. your doctor/s; and family and friends who must be told where you keep your Living Will.

WHERE TO KEEP YOUR LIVING WILL DOCUMENT
We suggest that these documents be lodged in the following manner:

  1. Kept at home in a safe place for easy access in an emergency.
  2. Lodged with your doctor, after full discussion of the contents, so that in advance of the possible need, the doctor understands your instructions. Should there be no private doctor, arrangements can be made to have this copy filed in your out-patient file at any hospital.
  3. Kept for inclusion in your in-patient file should the need for hospital, nursing home or hospice ever arise.

NB: Residents of Retirement Complexes/Old Age Homes should apply for an extra copy of the Living Will for either Management or the Clinic Sister.

Members are supplied with a Wallet Card, which draws attention to the fact that they have signed a Living Will, and advises where their Living Will can be found in an emergency.

WARNING: Living Will wording should NOT be incorporated within your Last Will and Testament, nor should the Living Will itself be attached to that document. Your Last Will and Testament can only be acted upon after your death, and you could be kept alive against your specific directives for months or even years, perhaps at great loss to your estate, before anyone is any the wiser.

Medic Alert:
Once you are a member of SAVES - The Living Will Society, you may also join Medic Alert should you wish to wear a Medic Alert disc engraved with the words "Living Will". (Tel: 021 425 7328 for details regarding that organisation's current fees.) The Medic Alert website can be found at www.medicalert.org

The Organ Donor Foundation LogoThe Organ Donor Foundation:
For more information on how to become an organ donor or to register as an organ donor, please contact the Organ Donor Foundation toll free on 0800 22 66 11 or visit www.odf.org.za