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Download medical consent form in Microsoft Word format.
Pre-Authorize Emergency Medical Treatment for You or Your Child with Free Medical Consent Forms
Do you have a written form you’ve completed for either yourself or for your children that pre-authorizes medical treatment in the event of an emergency? Did you know there are free medical consent forms online that can make this process easy and affordable? Free medical consent forms allow you plan ahead for the day a medical emergency or crisis happens, and are especially essential for children who spend a significant amount of time away from home, either with a babysitter, grandparents or some other temporary caregiver. In this article we will discuss the absolute importance of these types of forms, and outline briefly the information these forms should include.
Free Medical Consent Forms: Saves Time and Lives
In an emergency situation, time is the most crucial factor, but what many people do not realize is that this type of emergency treatment cannot be administered unless the treating physician or surgeon first receives medical consent from the responsible party. This consent is designed to protect you or your children from undergoing unnecessary and often expensive treatments without your knowledge, as well as to protect the treating doctor from any potential liability that may arise as a result of that treatment.
Emergencies are unpredictable, and although we hope and pray that one will never affect us or our children, statistics prove that most people will experience at least one medical emergency in their lifetime. And when these emergencies strike, the faster we can receive treatment the better chance there is that this crisis will not develop into a deadly tragedy. It is situations such as these that illustrate the key role free medical consent forms can play.
With free medical consent forms you can pre-authorize treatment for yourself, which virtually guarantees that you’ll receive timely and effective treatment in an emergency, but perhaps even more important is that these forms allow you to give that same pre-permission for your child to be treated. This is crucial, especially if your child becomes ill or injured when not in your direct care. A free medical consent form allows other adults—adults such as babysitters and grandparents—to make decisions regarding a child’s treatment in your absence, which can save valuable time in crisis situations, and perhaps even save your child’s life.
Free Medical Consent Forms: What to Look For
When searching the Internet for free medical consent forms, you’ll probably be struck by the sheer volume of forms that are available, but unless they contain at least the following information, they may not, from a legal standpoint, be able to serve their intended purpose:
- Patient’s name—this could be you or your child, depending on whom the form is intended to provide consent for.
- Patient’s contact information
- Responsible party—if the form is for you, than your name would appear here, if for your child, and you are giving permission to another adult to make medical decisions on your child’s behalf, their name and information would appear here also.
- Patient’s medical information—medical conditions, past surgeries, alerts and precautions, medications, etc.
- Insurance provider
- Family doctor or pediatrician
- Signature of responsible party(ies)
- Signatures of witnesses (a minimum of two)
Free medical consent forms take only a few minutes to fill out, and when looked at in terms of their significance in potentially deadly emergencies, this may be the most important few minutes you’ll ever spend.