‘Do not revive’ tattoo for 88-year-old woman

Tattoos that should help first responders and physicians realize that a person does not wish to be resuscitated seem to be getting popular with the 80-something set. In September last year an 81-year-old from Norfolk in England had ‘Do not resuscitate’ tattooed to her chest, and now an 88-year-old from the Netherlands followed suit.

According to today’s Volkskrant, which has a photo of the tattoo, the woman opted to have the text “niet reanimeren” put on her chest because she was dissatisfied with the other ways to convey her wish. She fears that the codicil in her wallet may be overlooked, and she dislikes carrying a ‘do not resuscitate’ coin around her neck.

According to the paper, the idea started ‘just for laughs’, but then became more serious.

Opinions on the legal status of the tattoo differ. “You cannot be much clearer”, professor in medical law Johan Legemaate of the University of Amsterdam said.

Martijn Maas of the Nederlandse Reanimatie Raad (Dutch Resuscitation Council) points out that on the other hand a codicil needs to be signed and dated, and that this tattoo is not.

The woman wishes to remain nameless.

See also: ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ tattooed on Norfolk pensioner

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 28th, 2012 at 1:09 pm and is filed under Dutch first, Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Tags: tattoos