What does that mean if a person is on life support?!
Question:
What does that mean if a person is on life support?
Does that mean that he/she is dead? My friend is crying because a guy she used to work with is in th hospital & on life support. & how long if you're on life support before you actually die? & if you ARE already dead if you're on life support, why is there such thing? Why can't they just let you die? & not suffer anymore.
This man looked very skinny & was walking wobbly & couldn't keep his balance. I know he drinks a lot & has liver problems. & also he's a heavy smoker. Should we say farewell & RIP already? He's a very mean-spirited guy, but I will miss him.
Answers:
Life support means that the person could not sustain life on his own without the help of one or more machine. It does not necessarily mean that he is already dead; though someone CAN be brain dead but kept alive on life support.
Sometimes the hospital does not mean to NOT let someone die in peace. Many times they think they can save someone with temporary help and it turns out that by taking him off the machine it would kill him.
An example was that my father was able to breathe on his own but he was so ill, they put in a tube and machine to breathe for him in order to let his body rest. They didn't want him to work so hard to breathe. This worked and then he got better and the tube and machine was removed. Months later when he was much iller and it was at the end of his life, he said no machines because he knew he would never come off of them. There is a time and place for everything.