A cyclist is found unconscious with serious injuries. They are in cardiac arrest.
They are wearing a bracelet engraved "DNR".
Does the medic stop? Or do they push hard and fast?
Brain cells begin to die within 4-6 minutes of cardiac arrest. Medics cannot waste 10 minutes searching bags for paper forms.
In a bike crash (trauma), medics often override DNRs initially, assuming the arrest is from blood loss (reversible), not the terminal illness.
The Sequence of Events on the Roadside
Medics arrive. Patient has no pulse. Under "Implied Consent," they START CPR immediately to perfume the brain.
While one medic does compressions, another spots the bracelet. They must instantly decide: Is this a valid state order?
Official Device: CPR Stops.
Generic Jewelry: CPR Continues while they search for paper. If not found, patient goes to ICU.
Select a category or search for a state to see if jewelry alone is enough to stop resuscitation legally.
If he goes into arrest while they are searching, brain death occurs in minutes. This is why EMS does not wait. If they start CPR to save the brain, and later find the paper, they will stop. If they never find the paper, the patient survives but potentially with hypoxic brain injury if the "search" caused a delay.
The patient will be intubated and put on a ventilator. They will be admitted to the ICU. The family must then bring the physical DNR order to the hospital ethics committee or attending physician to withdraw life support.