Life-Sustaining Treatments
Life-sustaining treatment replaces or supports ailing bodily function. When people have treatable conditions, life support is used temporarily until the illness or disease can be stabilized and the body can resume normal functioning. At times, the body never regains the ability to function without the life support or life-sustaining treatment.
Some commonly used life-sustaining treatment includes:
- Cardiopulomonary Resuscitation
- Intubation and Mechanical Ventilation
- Artificial Hydration and Nutrition (e.g. long-term feeding tube placement)
- Antibiotics
- Dialysis
It is legally and ethically appropriate to discontinue medical treatments that are no longer beneficial. It is the underlying disease, not the act of withdrawing treatment, which causes death.
Please follow this link for free educational resourcesOpen a PDF applicable to New York State.
Please follow these links to learn more about:
- Advance Care Planning Booklet (Includes NYS Health Care Proxy and Living Will) available in EnglishOpen a PDF or SpanishOpen a PDF
- NYS Health Care Proxy and Living Will
- Other State-specific Advance Directive Forms
- Community Conversations on Compassionate Care (CCCC) Video: Five Easy Steps
- Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST)
- MOLST Video: "Writing Your Final Chapter: Know your Choices…Share Your Wishes"
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) vs. Do Not Resuscitate (DNR)
- Feeding Tubes
- Pain Management
- Palliative Care
- Compassion And Support Video Library
- CompassionAndSupport.org in Spanish
- Resource Directory
- Educational Community Events