Maine Advance Form – Fill Out and Use This PDF

Maine Health Care

Advance Directive Form

You may use this form now to tell your physician and others what medical care you want to receive if you become too sick in the future to tell them what you want. You may choose to fill out the whole form or any part of the form and then sign and date the form in Part 6. These are the parts:

Page 1 of 14 Revised February 2008

Part 1 – Power of Attorney for Health Care

Instructions:

This part lets you choose another person to make health care decisions for you, either right away or when you are too sick to choose your own care. The person you choose is called your agent. You may also name a second and third choice to be your agent, if your first choice is not willing, reasonably available or able to make decisions for you. If you choose an agent on this form, but do not fill out any other parts of the form, your agent will be able to:

•Make all health care decisions for you, including decisions regarding tests, surgery and medication;

•Decide whether or not to have food or fluids given to you through tubes or fed into your veins through an IV;

•Decide whether or not to use treatments or machines to keep you alive or to restart your heart or breathing;

•Choose who will give you health care and where you will get it, such as hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living settings, home health, or hospice care; and

•Make any health decision he or she believes would be consistent with your values or in your best interest, even if it is not listed in the form.

Who can be your agent:

You can name any adult you trust to be your agent, except your agent may not be the owner, operator or employee of a nursing home or residential long-term care facility where you are receiving care, unless that person is your relative.

How your agent must make decisions:

If your agent does not know what you want, the agent must make decisions consistent with your personal values, if known, or based on your best interests. In Part 2, you can decide what you want in advance. If you make choices in Part 2, your agent must make decisions based on those choices.

Who can see your health care information:

Once your agent has the right to make health care decisions for you, your agent can look at your medical records and consent to giving your medical information to others. The state and federal privacy laws let your agent see all of your health information so that he or she can make the right decision for you.

The first part of your advance directive begins on the next page.

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YOUR ADVANCE DIRECTIVE BEGINS HERE

Choosing an agent: Fill in your name and the name of the person you choose to be your agent to make health care decisions for you here:

My name______________________________________________________________________________

My agent’s name________________________________________________________________________

Title or relationship to me_________________________________________________________________

My agent’s address______________________________________________________________________

My agent’s home phone (___)___________________ My agent’s work phone (___)__________________

You may change your mind later about who you want to be your agent. If you want to stop the agent you have named from making decisions for you, you must tell your primary physician or fill in these blanks:

I do not want ________________________ to be my agent. _______________________________________

My signature

Date you filled out and signed this section _________________________

Any time you cancel, replace or change this form you should give copies of the changed or new form to everyone who has a copy of your original form.

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Revised February 2008

Your agent’s power:

When your agent can start making decisions for you: (Check only one box: A or B)

A. My agent can make decisions only when my primary physician or a judge decides that I am too sick to make my own health care decisions.

OR

B. My agent can start making health care decisions for me right away, but this does not mean I have given up the right to make my own decisions if I am still able and willing to make my own decisions. When my agent makes a health care decision for me, I will be told, if possible, about that decision before it is carried out unless I say I do not want to know. If I disagree with that decision and am still able to decide, I can make a different decision. As long as I am able, I can end my agent’s right to make decisions for me, change my agent or make my own decisions. If I want to end my agent’s right to make decisions for me, I must tell my primary physician or put my decision in writing and sign it with the date of my signature.

Nominating a guardian:

A guardian is a person chosen by a court to make decisions about your personal care. These decisions can include not only health care, but other decisions such as where you will live and how your personal needs will be met. If you wish, you may ask that a court assign your agent as your guardian, if appointment of a guardian should become necessary. Check the box below to nominate your agent to be your guardian, if a judge needs to appoint a guardian for you.

I nominate my agent to be my guardian if a judge needs to appoint a guardian for me.

If you want to nominate someone other than your agent to be your guardian, you may fill in the section below.

If a judge needs to appoint a guardian for me, I nominate the person named below as my guardian:

Name__________________________________________ Title or Relationship to me________________

Address______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Home Phone (___)_______________________ Work Phone (___)______________________________

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Life-Sustaining Treatment Choices:

You may also check one of the two boxes below to show your choice about treatment that would keep you alive if, in the future, you have late stage Alzheimer’s disease or other severe dementia. These choices will not limit the authority under state law for your agent, surrogate, guardian or physician to make treatment choices if you are unable to make your own decisions and are not in late stage Alzheimer’s disease or other severe dementia.

*Only a physician can determine that someone is in the late stage of Alzheimer’s disease. People in the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease generally have a number of the following characteristics: loss of the ability to respond to their environment; loss of the ability to speak; loss of the ability to control movement; loss of the capacity for recognizable speech, although words or phrases may occasionally be uttered; needing help with eating and toileting; general incontinence of urine; loss of the ability to walk without assistance, then the ability to sit without support, then the ability to smile, and the ability to hold their head up; reflexes become abnormal; muscles grow rigid; and swallowing is impaired.

Tube Feeding: You may check one of the two boxes below to show your choice about tube feeding or having water and nutrition fed into your body through an IV or tube (artificial nutrition and hydration):

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Relief from Pain: You may check the box or fill in the blanks below to show your choice about relief of pain or discomfort.

Other Directions:

You may give more directions or add any other treatment choices in the space below:

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Part 3 — Primary Physician

This section is optional. Fill out this part only if you wish to name your primary physician today.

Name of my primary physician:__________________________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________ Phone: ________________________

I want any agent I named in Part 1 to talk with this physician about my health care. If the physician I have named above is not willing, reasonably available or able to carry out my wishes, I want the agent I named in Part 1 to talk with the physician listed below:

Name of physician: _____________________________________________________________

Address:_____________________________________________ Phone:___________________

If you want your agent or those making decisions for you to speak with a nurse practitioner or physician assistant before making a decision, you may complete the following section:

Name of nurse practitioner or physician assistant: _____________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________ Phone:___________________

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Part 4 – Donation of Body,

Organs or Tissues at Death

This section is optional. Fill out this part only if you want to give directions about donating your body, organs or tissues after your death.

I do NOT wish to donate any organs, tissues or parts.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have checked below my choices about donating my body, organs or tissues after death. I have spoken with my family so that they will not object to my wishes after I die.

I give my body. OR

I give any needed organs, tissues or parts. OR

I give only the following organs, tissues, or parts:

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

My gift is for the following purposes (you may check any number of boxes):

My gift is for transplant or therapy for another person, to be chosen based on generally accepted health care standards.

My gift is for research and education. My preference, if any, is to give my body, organs, or tissues to the following hospital, medical school, or physician:

Name ________________________________________________________

Address _______________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

I understand that I may need to contact the hospital, medical school, or physician before I die in order for them to accept my body, organs or tissues after my death.

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Part 5 – Instructions About

Funeral and Burial Arrangements

This section is optional. Fill out this part only if you wish to give special instructions about your funeral or burial arrangements here.

I hope that my family will follow my wishes after I die as noted below.

I choose _____________________________________________________________ to have custody

and control of my body after my death with the right to decide everything about my funeral and burial.

OR

I want my family to know these are my wishes about: burial, cremation, funeral, or memorial service. (Fill in)

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

If you plan to die at home, talk with your physician and funeral director about your plans. When you die, your family or agent should call your physician and the funeral home you have chosen. The funeral home staff will pick up your body from your home.

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Part 6—Signing the Form

If you have filled out any part of this form, you must sign and date the form on this page. You must also have two other adults sign as witnesses at the same time you sign the form. Your agent cannot sign as a witness. You do not need to have a Notary Public sign your Advance Directive form to make it legal in Maine. However, if you travel or live part of the year out-of-state, it would be wise to have it signed by a Notary. Some states require this. You can find this service under Notary Public in the phone book. Most banks also have Notaries Public and will usually notarize papers for bank customers when asked. The Notary Acknowledgment may be done at any time after you sign this form.

Notary Acknowledgment.

Then personally appeared the above named __________________________________, known to me or who

presented satisfactory evidence of his/her identity, and acknowledged this Advance Directive as his/her free act and deed before me.

Notary signature: _______________________________________________ Date: ___________________

Printed name: ______________________ Notary Public State of:___________ Commission Exp.: _________

Make sure to tell people. Tell your family members, physicians and others close to you what you have decided. You should talk to the agent(s) you have chosen to make sure that they understand your wishes and are willing to carry them out. Give a copy of this form to your physician, to any place where you get health care, and to any agent(s) you have chosen in Part 1. Please be sure to list the people who have copies of this form on the front page.

Canceling or changing the form.

Part 1: You may end your agent’s right to make decisions while you are still able to make those decisions by telling your primary physician or putting your decision in writing and attaching it to this form. If you want to name a new agent, you must put that instruction in writing and sign it in front of two witnesses who must also sign their names.

Parts 2-7: You may cancel any other part of this form, or change your instructions in the other parts of this form while you are still able to make those decisions. It is best to do so by (1) writing on this form, (2) writing on another piece of paper and attaching it to this form, or (3) completing a new form. Any of those written changes should be signed and dated by you.

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Part 7—Instructions to Emergency Medical Services

(ambulance crews) about what to do if your heart or breathing stops.

This section is optional. If you do not want ambulance crews to revive you if your heart or breathing stops, you and your physician (or nurse practitioner or physician assistant) must both complete and sign this part.

Instructions for Part 7:

•If I stop breathing or my heart stops, I do not want the Emergency Medical Services (ambulance crews) to try to revive me. My physician (or nurse practitioner or physician assistant) and I have discussed this and signed the special form on the next page. I understand that this decision will not prevent me from receiving other emergency care, or comfort care from health care workers before I die.

•I understand that the form goes into effect when I have signed it AND it is signed by my physician (or nurse practitioner or physician assistant).

•I understand that this directive will not be followed unless my family, caretaker or I give the signed form on the next page to Emergency Medical Services (ambulance crews), and that it is solely my responsibility to make sure they see it.

•I understand that I should carry the signed form with me unless I wear health alert jewelry, such as MedicAlert, that also tells people that I do not want to be revived if my heart or breathing stops (Please call Maine Emergency Medical Services at 207-626-3860 to see if there are other Maine EMS approved health alert jewelry companies).

•I understand that if any health care provider has any doubts about what I want, they will try to restart my heart or breathing.

•I understand that I may revoke this directive at any time by destroying this form and removing any Maine EMS approved Do-Not-Resuscitate jewelry. I can also tell the ambulance crews that I have changed my mind.

•I understand that should I change my mind, it is my responsibility to tell my physician (or nurse practitioner or physician assistant) and other people who have copies of the signed form.

•If I want my agent to make this decision later, my agent should take the form available at: http://www.maine.gov/dps/ems to my physician (or nurse practitioner or physician assistant) when it is time to make the decision.

If you complete and sign this section, put the original in a safe place and be sure to give copies to ambulance crews, your family, your caregivers, and your physician.

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