Health Care Decisions for Your Children

Do you know who makes health care decisions for your children if you aren’t available?

Now that summer is here, families are headed out for a number of activities, such as vacation trips and summer camps.  These activities often mean that you and your children are off to different places.  The kids may be in the mountains learning how to paddle a canoe or you may be off on vacation while your small children stay with either family or friends. 

If you and your children are in different places, and one of them needs to go to the doctor, who gets to decide what to do?  If either you or that child’s other parent can be reached, then one or both of you decide, but what if neither of you can be reached? 

In that situation, you can give written, signed authorization for someone to make those health care decisions for your child.  If you don’t give written authorization, the decision falls to one of your relatives who is “responsible for the healthcare” of your children.  

You’ll notice that if you don’t give a written authorization, only a relative can make those decisions.  If you don’t have relatives living nearby, you really need to give someone you trust the authority to make health care decisions for your children.  You should also check when signing your children up for summer activities that an authorization for health care decisions is part of the process.