I’m a retired RN and I’d like to tell you about the death of one of my patients from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. I was working the night shift at a small community hospital and provided as much care and comfort as I could to try to keep her comfortable. She was extremely anxious and short of breath and oxygen at two liters a minute didn’t offer her any relief. Unfortunately any more oxygen than that would have killed her. I administered as much medication as I could, but she was still so hungry for air that she asked me to open the window, during one of the coldest January’s we’d ever had. I cracked the window open a little, but she wanted it wide open.
She said she could breathe better when she could feel the cold air. I added more blankets to her bed, and left the room. A half hour later I came back to discover her dead. She died a cold, frightening death all alone. How different her death could have been, in the warm comfort of her own home, with loved ones nearby and the right to choose when and how she leaves this earth! New Hampshire HB 1283 if passed, will allow everyone to make this most personal and important choice: To die with dignity. Please support this bill, if not for your own sake, then for the sake of others.
Deborah J Bernacchia
Bradford