Oklahoma DNR Form: How to Get a Do Not Resuscitate Order

An advance directive tells your doctors what you want when you are terminally ill. A DNR order tells the paramedics arriving at your home in the next three minutes what to do right now. These are different documents with different rules, and having one does not automatically give you the other.

Here is how Oklahoma's Do Not Resuscitate system works — including the specific steps to make a DNR enforceable at home.

What a DNR Order Does

A Do Not Resuscitate order in Oklahoma instructs medical personnel and first responders not to perform CPR if your heart or breathing stops. It is governed by the Oklahoma Do-Not-Resuscitate Act (63 O.S. § 3131.1) and applies specifically to cardiac and respiratory arrest — it does not address other medical treatments like ventilators, feeding tubes, or medications.

A DNR is a physician-signed medical order, not just a legal declaration. That distinction matters because emergency responders are trained to follow medical orders, not interpret legal documents. When paramedics arrive at a home, they look for a signed DNR form — not an advance directive binder.

How to Obtain a DNR in Oklahoma

Step 1: Talk to your physician. A DNR is not a form you download and fill out yourself. It requires a conversation with your licensed physician about your medical condition, prognosis, and treatment preferences. The physician must agree that a DNR order is medically appropriate.

Step 2: Complete the consent form. The standard Oklahoma DNR consent form must be signed by:

• The patient (or their legal representative if the patient lacks capacity)
• The attending physician
• Two disinterested adult witnesses who are not related by blood or marriage and not estate beneficiaries

Step 3: Get the form into the right hands. Give copies to your physician, your designated proxy (if you have one), and your hospital or care facility.

Making a DNR Work at Home

This is where most people run into problems. An advance directive sitting in a filing cabinet does nothing when EMTs arrive at a cardiac arrest. Oklahoma law has specific rules for out-of-hospital DNR orders:

The display requirement. For a DNR to be honored in a residential home, Oklahoma law requires it to be physically displayed in an obvious location — on the refrigerator door or at the head of the patient's bed. Emergency responders are trained to look in these locations.

The communication chain. Beyond displaying the form, make sure that:

• Family members who live with you know the DNR exists and where it is posted
• Home health aides and caregivers know about the DNR
• Your local EMS provider has a copy on file if your jurisdiction maintains such records

Without visible display, first responders will default to full resuscitation efforts — even if you have a valid advance directive somewhere in the house.

DNR vs. Advance Directive vs. POLST

A DNR covers only the CPR decision. An advance directive covers broader end-of-life treatment but does not activate until two physicians certify your condition. The OkPOLST (printed on pink paper) bridges the gap — it is a set of physician orders covering CPR, medical interventions, and antibiotics that activates immediately and travels with you across care settings.

If you have a terminal diagnosis or are seriously ill, talk to your doctor about whether a POLST makes sense alongside or instead of a standalone DNR.

What a DNR Cannot Do

A DNR does not authorize euthanasia or physician-assisted death — both are illegal in Oklahoma under the Assisted Suicide Prevention Act. A DNR simply instructs medical personnel not to attempt resuscitation when the heart or breathing naturally stops.

A DNR also does not affect other treatments. If you are admitted to the hospital with a DNR and develop pneumonia, doctors will still treat the pneumonia. The DNR only applies to the specific event of cardiac or respiratory arrest.

The Oklahoma Advance Directive & Living Will Kit includes a DNR/POLST coordination guide that walks you through the conversation with your physician and explains how these clinical orders work alongside your advance directive.

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