2720

JOINT RESOLUTIONS

No. 78

no later than June 1, 1976; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be sent to
the Honorable James B. Coulter, Secretary, State
Department of Natural Resources, Tawes State Office
Building, Annapolis, Maryland 21401; and to Thomas D.
McKewen, Director, Maryland Environmental Service, Tawes
State Office Building, Annapolis, Maryland 21401; Dr.
Neil Solomon, Secretary, the Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene, 301 W. Preston Street, Baltimore,
Maryland 21201; and to Michael I. Volk, Esquire,
Committee Reporter to the Legislative Policy Committee.

Approved May 17, 1976.

No. 79

(House Joint Resolution No. 158)

A House Joint Resolution concerning

Life Preservation Advisory Groups

FOR the purpose of urging each hospital and related
institution in this State to create life
preservation advisory committees to advise and
assist physicians and family members in [[both
understanding the problems and making the decisions
at or near the time of death of certain patients]]
dealing with the difficult circumstances which arise
in certain cases when patients are terminally ill.

[[WHEREAS, All Marylanders are infrequently faced
with the emotional trauma of witnessing a member of their
family or a friend in a hospital at or near death; and]]
In certain cases, terminal illness of a patient can cause
severe emotional trauma to those intimately and vitally
concerned with the patient.

[[WHEREAS, Near the time of death of a patient,
grief and confusion often prevail when those involved are
faced with difficult decisions; and]] When death is
imminent, those involved are sometimes hard put to make
difficult decisions because of existing grief and
confusion.

[[WHEREAS, All persons associated with the process
of dying who are dying, need guidance and assistance from
expert sources removed from the immediate emotional shock
and capable of providing objective advice; and]] Persons

inextricably involved__with the inevitable death process

are many times desperately in need of expert guidance and
assistance from sources who are shielded from immediate
emotional shock by virtue of the lack of intimate
involvement in a case and thus able to provide objective