Wow, I was talking with some nurse friends of mine yesterday and they were telling me about a nursing home call, an elderly PT choked on some food and the Nursing home staff stood by and watched because the PT had a DNR. I'm like "WHAT!" you can't just let somebody choke to death because they have a DNR, thats not what it means!!!
Another one was a similar incident of PT with severe schizophrenia who choked on some food and kept pushing more food down her airway. Nurses tried to heimlich got some out but there was alot in here airway. Nurses suctioned and tried to work on the food in airway. She was down for 30 min before an EMT unit showed up, cyonotic, unconscious ect. The EMTs show and one of them had apparently been drinking, Nurses on staff called a Doc who was going to call it a XYZ time. PT had a DNR and my nurse friend showed it to them, but the EMT who had been drinking started CPR. Breaking ribs on an PT who was dead already. She was a temp nurse so she never really found out what happened with that situation.