Prehospital DNR orders: what do physicians in Washington know?

OBJECTIVES To assess whether physicians know of Washington State's prehospital do-not-resuscitate (DNR) policy, 6 years after its implementation. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. SETTING Washington State, April 2001. PARTICIPANTS Four hundred seventy-one practicing physicians. MEASUREMENTS Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine relationships between physician and practice characteristics with knowledge of policies governing advance care planning. RESULTS Among respondents, 60% did not know that Washington State requires an emergency medical service (EMS)-specific DNR order authored by a physician. Seventy-nine percent did not know that patient-authored advance directives apply only in hospitals and medical offices. CONCLUSION The findings in this study suggest that most physicians in Washington State lack knowledge about the documentation needed for EMS personnel to forgo pre-hospital attempts at cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Further study is needed to determine whether physician education or legislative change is necessary.