Blood, Medicine and Jehovah's Witnesses

TALK TO MEDICAL PERSONNEL

THE MEDICAL TEAM: This is a time when the fear of man must not prevail. (Prov. 29:25) If you appear unsure, someone may decide you are not sincere. When surgery is needed, elective or emergency, you or the nearest family member must with determination ask some pointed questions of the head of the surgical team.

One important question is, Will the team respect the patient's wishes and in all circumstances treat without blood? Without this assurance you would not be well protected.

State plainly and with dignified conviction what your wishes are. Make it clear that you want alternative non-blood medical management of your problem. Calmly and confidently discuss both your own advance medical directive and also the hospital's release from liability form. If the surgeon is unwilling to work with your wishes, you will save time if you ask the consultant or your own general practitioner to locate another doctor for you. That is part of his job.

ANAESTHETIST:

Of all on the medical team that you need to talk to before surgery, YOU MUST NOT FAIL TO SPEAK TO THIS DOCTOR. Charged with keeping you alive while the surgeon operates, the anaesthetist is the one who makes decisions about such matters as the use of blood. So you are not fully protected by just talking to the surgeon. Hence, you must speak with and convince the anaesthetist as to your position, determining whether it will be respected or not.-Compare Luke 18:3-5.

The usual practice, it seems, is for the anaesthetist to visit the patient briefly rather late on the night before surgery-too late if he is opposed to your stand on blood. Insist that the surgeon preselect a co-operative anaesthetist that you can talk to well in advance of elective surgery. Then there will be time to locate another one if the first one is unwilling to abide by your wishes. Do not let anyone try to talk you out of this right to be satisfied with the anaesthetist for your surgery.

To all of these, you must make clear your non-negotiable stand: NO BLOOD. Ask for alternative non- blood medical management of your case. Mention any known alternatives to blood for your situation. If the medical team feels these are not useful in your case, ask them to research other possibilities in the medical literature. Assure them you can get them some information if they wish by your asking your elders to contact the nearest Hospital Liaison Committee.