Tokyo Fire Dept. to Forgo Resuscitation under Conditions

Tokyo, March 12 (Jiji Press)--The Tokyo Fire Department is considering forgoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation for terminally ill patients by ambulance crews if the patients expressed such a wish in advance, officials said.

The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to discuss specific rules as the fire department aims to implement the change in the fiscal year that begins next month, they said.

An advisory panel including experts in medical ethics last month recommended to the fire department that ambulance crews discontinue resuscitation on condition that family members show patients' desires to avoid such treatment and that their primary doctors confirm their conditions and wishes.

The fire department has no clear standards about cardiopulmonary resuscitation for terminally ill patients in place, leaving ambulance crews with difficulty handling some cases.

According to a survey by the fire department, ambulance crews handled 816 cases of people in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest in a four-week period in July and August last year.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]