POLST
Today’s strip deals with a person’s wishes, in regards to life-sustaining treatment at end-of-life. The subject of whether or not you’d want to be intubated or fed by a machine was complex enough before this age of covid we’re suddenly living in, but now it seems to have gained an added dimension of relevance. Recently, I’ve heard several people tell me that they’d prefer not to be put on a ventilator if they were hospitalized with covid, and I think that they’re conflating that notion with the controversial topic of being kept alive by machines, during end-stage care.
An otherwise healthy person being able to breathe long enough for a treatment to work is vastly different than preventing a person from dying naturally, through agonizing intervention at the sunset of their life. Again, I feel like our aversion to talking about death—and all the processes and customs involved with it—makes it harder for us to make informed decisions until we and our families find ourselves overwhelmed, in the middle of a bad situation.
Sometimes I worry like my comic is becoming less relevant as young people are struggling just to preserve their livelihood. But strips like this one remind me that it might be more timely than ever.
Special thanks to MK Czerwiec for all the help and feedback on this strip. <3
