• Arun Kumar, Alex Psirides, Namrata Maheshwari, Vipal Chawla, and Amit K Mandal.
• Department of Critical Care, Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, Medical Intensive Care Unit, Fortis Hospital, Mohali, Punjab, India.
• Indian J Crit Care Med. 2015 Nov 1; 19 (11): 655-60.

AbstractEnd-of-life decisions are being made daily in Intensive Care Units worldwide. The spectrum of options varies from full-continued care, withholding treatment, withdrawing treatment, and active life-ending procedures depending on the institutional practices and legal framework. Considering the complexity of the situation and the legalities involved, it is important to have a structured approach toward these sensitive decisions. It does make sense to have a protocol that ensures proper documentation and helps ease the physicians involved in such decisions. Clear documentation in the format of a checklist would ensure consistency and help the entire medical team to be uniformly informed about the end-of-life plan.

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