A Health Care Directive or Living Will as it is sometimes called, is a legal document that sets out your wishes for medical treatment should you have a terminal condition as certified by your physician or are in an irreversible coma as certified by two physicians. In either situation, your directive allows treatment to be withheld or withdrawn so that you may die naturally. In your Health Care Directive, you may also direct whether you would like artificially provided nutrition (food) and hydration (water) stopped in the above situations.
Some individuals find it very empowering to create a directive stating that they do not wish life-sustaining treatment if it’s only purpose is to prolong the process of dying.
By expressing their wishes, they feel they unburden their families and those close to them from making such decisions on their behalf. Moreover, Washington State has a living will registry which allows individuals to store their living will documents for free in a secure, online database. Once you have registered your living will, a copy of your living will is sent to your attending physician and remains online for other authorized health care providers to access should you come under their care. The registry also stores your emergency contact information so that family and next of kin can be contacted. You are always free to update your living will and will be sent yearly reminders to ensure it is accurate and represents your present wishes.
For more information about The Washington State Living Will Registry click the following link:
http://www.doh.wa.gov/livingwill/
