Vancouver, WA -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/11/2012 -- My Life Directive, an online registry service that provides medical, contact and personal information to healthcare organizations worldwide, has just launched its new website.
The site helps medical facilities notify relatives quickly that their loved ones—who might be unable to communicate—are in the hospital receiving care, or worse, dying.
My Life Directive is a non-profit that was founded by Dorothy Rodriguez-Anderson in honor of her late father Richard Rodriguez, who passed away in a hospital after being admitted in a confused state.
Hospital staff locked his wallet in their safe, never to reference it for family contact information, leaving Richard to not only suffer, but die alone. Unfortunately, the Vietnam Vet, who was dearly loved by everyone who knew him, spent his final days alone.
Dorothy was so devastated by the tragic circumstances of her father’s death that she was inspired to start her non-profit website with a single goal in mind: to help prevent others from going through what she did. Once a person is registered with the site they are given an ID number - which medical facilities can use to search for patient information including family contacts, health conditions, medications, the names of personal physicians and advance directive information.
“Too often people end up unconscious without ID and there is no way for loved ones to be contacted, leaving the injured person to suffer alone, or worse, die alone,” Rodriguez-Anderson said, adding that there are three main factors that everyone shares, all of which point to a need for the services provided by My Life Directive.
First, she said, everybody loves someone. Second, everybody is going to die. Finally, no one wants to die alone.
“People are saying that My Life Directive registry makes them feel better. We cannot rely on others to notify us—we must make these provisions ourselves.”
The website, which also has a Facebook page, offers its services to people of any age. Members can provide information for all of their loved ones, which can help keep whole families close in case of medical emergencies.
The site is new and is being updated with new features frequently, Rodriguez-Anderson said. For example, the non-profit will soon provide its service to the homeless population by providing them with an ID tag that will help ensure that in the event of an emergency that they do not end up as a “John Doe” or “Jane Doe.”
“We are also building a page for personal stories and a blog for people to share their experiences. It is a tragedy to experience this and the only real sense of solace you may find is if someone else has suffered the same thing and you can share your story. There will also be a space available as a memorial for loved ones that were lost and forgotten just like my father. ”
About My Life Directive
My Life Directive is an online registry where people can post as little or as much as they wish about their emergency contact information, end of life wishes, allergies, etc. This information is then used for the sole intent and purpose of keeping people close to home when they are traveling, working, away at college or otherwise. My Life Directive was born as an idea in 2009 and finally came to life just in time for Father’s Day 2012. For more information or to donate, please visit http://www.mylifedirective.org