§ 35-22-505 — Duty to comply with POLST form; immunity, effect on criminal charges against another person

Wyoming § 35-22-505

• Jurisdiction: Wyoming
• Title 35: Public Health and Safety
• Ch. 22: LIVING WILL
• Art. 5: PROVIDER ORDERS FOR LIFE SUSTAINING TREATMENT

Text

(a) Emergency medical service personnel, health care
providers and health care facilities, absent actual notice of
revocation or termination of a POLST form, shall comply with the
orders on a person's POLST form. Any emergency medical service
personnel, health care provider or health care facility or any
other person who, in good faith and in accordance with generally
accepted health care standards applicable to the health care
professional or institution, complies with orders on a POLST
form shall not be subject to civil liability, criminal
prosecution, regulatory sanction or discipline for
unprofessional conduct.
(b) Compliance by emergency medical service personnel,
health care providers or health care facilities with orders on a
POLST form shall not affect the criminal prosecution of any
person otherwise charged with the commission of a criminal act.
(c) In the absence of a valid POLST form, other provider
orders documented in a medical record or an advance health care
directive available to the treating provider, an individual's
consent to life sustaining treatment shall be presumed.
(d) A POLST form from another state, absent actual notice
of revocation or termination, shall be presumed to be valid and
shall be effective in this state.
(e) Emergency medical service personnel, health care
providers and health care facilities shall comply with the
orders on a POLST form without regard to whether the ordering
provider is on the medical staff of the treating health care
facility.
(f) If a patient whose goals and preferences for care have
been entered on a valid POLST form is transferred from one (1)
health care facility to another, the health care facility
initiating the transfer shall communicate the existence of the
POLST form to the receiving facility prior to the transfer. The
POLST form shall accompany the individual to the receiving
facility and shall remain in effect. The POLST form shall be
reviewed by the treating health care professional and made into
a medical order at the receiving facility unless the POLST form
is replaced or voided as provided in this article.
(g) To the extent that the orders on a POLST form
described in this section conflict with the provisions of an
advance directive made under W.S. 35-22-403, the most recent of
those documents signed by the patient takes precedence.