Never agree to a do not resuscitate order at the hospital

My dad had a heart attack Thursday and was taken in by ambulance. He was stable when he arrived and they told him they would get him to a hospital better equipped on Monday for tests. I guess at the time he didn't seem to be that bad.

His cardiologist told him that if he had another one before that, there was a good chance that even if they could save him he'd wind up an invalid in a nursing home, and would probably die soon after. He asked if my dad would agree to a do not resuscitate order in case that happened. My dad agreed. Later on that night he slowly began to worsen, and got worse overnight. By the time my mother got there the next morning his heart rate was 38 BPM and he was on the edge of unconsciousness and death. The nurse came running over the second my mom got there begging my mom to let her treat my father. Of course my mom was puzzled, why would you not treat him? Yes go ahead and treat him, she told the nurse.

The nurse worked frantically for 20 minutes or so and got his heart rate back up to 50 or so and they put him in an ambulance for the ride over to the other hospital. The "do not resuscitate order" my dad agreed to was essentially a do not treat order. Of course they never sold it to him that way. He was under the impression they were going to do nothing if he was already dead. All night they did nothing... even though all they had to do was give him a few drugs to stabilize him enough to get him well enough to take the ride over and get proper treatment.

"Do not resuscitate," means a certain thing to you and me. Do not bring me back if I'm dead. What it means to the Canadian medical system is another thing altogether. For them it means, "do not treat and let you die." If you do ever wind up in a situation like that, you better have somebody there 24/7 who can make sure that you're getting what you thought you agreed to. In my dad's case they could have saved him, and in the end did, but only because my mother was there to demand it. Or don't agree to it period. They outright lied to my dad when they told him what he was agreeing to. He was agreeing to be allowed to die when all hope was lost. That's not what happened, and the proof is that 3 hours later he was in recovery scheduled to go home on Monday alive.

How many people they've done that to, and have died. I can't even imagine it. I give you a warning my friends. I don't even know what to say right now. Other than I'm happy my father is still alive.