To put a Georgia Do Not Resuscitate form in place, get the official form from your physician’s office, a hospital, a hospice, or the Georgia Division of Aging Services, give your consent, and have your attending physician sign it. The order tells doctors, nurses, and EMTs not to perform CPR if your heart or breathing stops. It is governed by Title 31, Chapter 39 of the Official Code of Georgia.
Where to Get the Form
The Georgia Department of Community Health and the Division of Aging Services publish the official DNR form. You can get a copy several ways:
- Ask your physician’s office. Doctors who treat patients with serious or terminal illness routinely stock the form.
- Ask the admissions or social work staff at a hospital, nursing facility, or hospice program.
- Download it from the Georgia Division of Aging Services website.
There is no filing fee and no court involvement. The form becomes legally effective once your attending physician signs it and enters the order in your medical record.
What Makes the Form Valid
Two things have to happen: someone with authority has to consent, and your attending physician has to issue the order. Georgia law presumes every adult has capacity to make this decision unless a physician documents otherwise in the chart or a court has ruled otherwise.1Justia. Georgia Code 31-39-3 – Patient Presumed to Consent to Administration of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
If You Are Consenting for Yourself
Any adult with decision-making capacity can consent to a DNR, orally or in writing. You can give consent now for a future date, and the consent remains valid even if your physical or mental condition later changes.2Justia. Georgia Code 31-39-4 – Persons Authorized to Issue Order Not to Resuscitate No one can require you to sign a DNR as a condition of healthcare or insurance; the decision has to be voluntary.3FindLaw. Georgia Code 31-39-8 – Effect of Order Not to Resuscitate on Insurance and Health Care
If Someone Else Is Consenting for the Patient
When an adult patient lacks decision-making capacity and medically qualifies as a candidate for nonresuscitation, an authorized person can consent on their behalf. This includes a healthcare agent appointed through a Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care or a durable power of attorney for health care. The decision has to be based in good faith on what the patient would have wanted.2Justia. Georgia Code 31-39-4 – Persons Authorized to Issue Order Not to Resuscitate
If the authorized person is a healthcare agent acting under a valid advance directive, the attending physician can issue the DNR on that consent alone. When another type of surrogate consents, a second physician’s written concurrence is generally required.
If the Patient Is a Minor
A DNR for a minor child requires a parent’s consent, oral or written. If the attending physician believes the child is mature enough to understand what the order means, the child also has to agree before the order is valid.2Justia. Georgia Code 31-39-4 – Persons Authorized to Issue Order Not to Resuscitate
What the Order Actually Covers
Georgia defines cardiopulmonary resuscitation narrowly: the measures used to restore or support heart or lung function during cardiac or respiratory arrest. A DNR tells medical personnel to withhold those specific measures. In practice that means no chest compressions, no breathing tubes, and no electric shocks to restart the heart.
It does not tell medical staff to stop all treatment. Pain medication, comfort care, antibiotics, IV fluids, and anything else unrelated to restarting your heart or breathing continue as normal. The order applies only at the moment of cardiac or respiratory arrest. Until that moment, you receive whatever care you and your doctors decide is appropriate.
Making Sure the Form Is Honored
Georgia law presumes every patient consents to CPR unless a valid DNR exists.1Justia. Georgia Code 31-39-3 – Patient Presumed to Consent to Administration of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation If EMS arrives and can’t find your form or identify your DNR jewelry, they will start CPR. A form locked in a safe or buried in a filing cabinet does nothing.
Keep the Original Where EMS Will See It
Put the original in an obvious location. Many people place it on the refrigerator door or in a clearly marked envelope near the front entrance. Some communities offer “File of Life” programs, where you store medical documents in a magnetic pouch on the refrigerator with a sticker on the door alerting EMS to check there. The pouch can note that you have a DNR, but the signed written order itself still has to be available.
Give copies to every provider involved in your care. Tell close family members where the original is and what it says. If you are admitted to a hospital or transferred to a new facility, the physician who issued the DNR is required to inform the receiving physician and facility about the order.2Justia. Georgia Code 31-39-4 – Persons Authorized to Issue Order Not to Resuscitate
DNR Identification Bracelets and Necklaces
Georgia law authorizes a DNR identification bracelet, worn on the wrist or ankle, or a necklace that alerts emergency responders to your DNR status. When EMS sees the identifying jewelry, it serves the same signaling function as the paper form. Ask your physician about obtaining approved DNR identification when you complete the order.
Changing Your Mind
You can revoke the DNR at any time. A written statement, a verbal statement, or any other action that clearly shows your intent to revoke is enough. You just need to communicate it to a physician, nurse, EMT, or other medical professional present or involved in your care. A parent or other authorized person who originally consented has the same right to revoke, by the same methods.4Justia. Georgia Code 31-39-6 – Revocation of Consent to Order Not to Resuscitate
Once revoked, tell every provider and family member who knew about the original. A canceled form still sitting on the refrigerator could lead to exactly the outcome you were trying to avoid.
Insurance Protection
No life insurance policy can be impaired, modified, or voided because a DNR exists, regardless of what the policy’s terms say. No insurer or healthcare provider can make signing a DNR a condition of coverage or treatment.3FindLaw. Georgia Code 31-39-8 – Effect of Order Not to Resuscitate on Insurance and Health Care
What the Form Does Not Do
A DNR covers one specific situation: whether to perform CPR when your heart or breathing stops. It does not address ventilators, feeding tubes, dialysis, or other life-sustaining treatments. For those, you need a Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care (governed by Title 31, Chapter 32) or a POLST form.
A Georgia Advance Directive lets you express broader treatment preferences and name a healthcare agent to decide for you when you can’t. Your agent can consent to a DNR on your behalf, so the two documents work together.
A POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment), adopted in Georgia under O.C.G.A. ยง 31-1-14, is a more comprehensive medical order designed for people with serious progressive illnesses. It covers CPR along with mechanical ventilation, antibiotics, and artificial nutrition.5Georgia Department of Public Health. Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) A POLST that includes a “do not resuscitate” code status carries the same legal authority as a standalone DNR under Chapter 39.2Justia. Georgia Code 31-39-4 – Persons Authorized to Issue Order Not to Resuscitate
If You Travel Out of State
A Georgia DNR is a Georgia legal document. Other states are not required to honor it, and EMS protocols for recognizing out-of-state DNR orders vary widely. There is no national standard or interstate compact guaranteeing your Georgia DNR will be followed if you have a cardiac arrest in another state. If you spend significant time elsewhere, talk to a physician there about obtaining that state’s DNR form or POLST equivalent as a backup.