VALUABLE HELP IN A TIME OF NEED

²³ Note the following procedure for obtaining needed help: (1) As soon as you or a loved one faces either elective or emergency surgery where there is a confrontation because the hospital wants to use blood; or (2) if your medical situation or that of a loved one deteriorates seriously; or (3) if in the case of a child (or an adult), the doctor, a nurse, or an administrator says they are going to get a court order, then:

²⁴ CALL YOUR LOCAL ELDERS if you have not already done so. (Indeed, because of our position on blood, it is the course of wisdom to alert our elders anytime we have to go to a health care facility.) Next, if it is deemed necessary, THE ELDERS WILL CALL THE NEAREST HOSPITAL LIAISON COMMITTEE. If you wish, some Hospital Liaison Committee members may come to the hospital at this time to help you.​—Isa. 32:1, 2.

²⁵ These Hospital Liaison Committee elders know who the cooperative doctors are in your area and can get you in touch with them and start to line up other doctors or health care centers to assist. If none are available locally, the elders will check with the next nearest committee. And if that is not successful, they will call Hospital Information Services in Brooklyn. They may also be able to arrange for consultation with a cooperative doctor who can explain to your present medical team what can be done without blood. Hospital Liaison Committee brothers have been trained to handle such situations.

²⁶ Members of the Hospital Liaison Committees are also willing to help you or a relative talk to a doctor or an administrator, but you must request that help. Of course, these brothers cannot make decisions for you, but often they can assist you in considering the Society’s view of matters and alert you to your options medically and legally.

²⁷ If the medical team is still disinclined to cooperate, talk to the hospital administrator about replacing them with others on his staff who will respect your wishes. If the administrator hesitates to do that and ONLY if you definitely have another surgeon lined up elsewhere and you can be transferred, then you have the option of giving the administrator a dated and signed written statement naming the uncooperative doctors and stating that they are dismissed from your case.

²⁸ Can you do that? Yes, you have that right. And if the matter later comes before a judge, your written statement can go a long way toward his recognizing your wishes. It can also possibly open the way ethically for other surgeons now to step in and offer their services to you. And, most important, it can get you the needed medical attention before your condition deteriorates dangerously. Do not wait too long!

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If any medical situation deteriorates seriously to the point where a transfusion is being threatened, check this box as to what you should do:

1. Call elders in your congregation to assist you.

2. Have elders call the nearest Hospital Liaison Committee if needed.

3. The Hospital Liaison Committee can assist you in speaking to doctors and others.

4. The Hospital Liaison Committee can help you contact other doctors for consultation with present surgeons as to alternatives.

5. The Hospital Liaison Committee can also help you get transferred to a more respectful facility for needed treatment.