It is never too early to start planning for the future. April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day, an initiative to encourage people to express their healthcare wishes through the completion of advance medical directives.
The annual event is held nationally. Fort Sill's event is from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the lobby of Reynolds Army Community Hospital and at the Pharmissary.
Attorneys will be present to create legal documents for any military ID holder. Any Soldier, spouse, retiree or dependent can generate a living will, a healthcare power of attorney, or a do-not-resuscitate document.
Advance directives are documents written prior to the onset of serious illness that state your healthcare choices or name someone to make those choices.
"Making healthcare decisions in advance is important because it allows the individual to tell their doctors and family members their healthcare wishes before they are incapable of communicating with them," said Capt. Tarik Downie, legal assistance attorney.
Downey added that making end-of-life care decisions will spare loved ones the burden of making such decisions in uncertainty.
Each person who attends NHDD will get a one-on-one session with an attorney. Depending on which services are provided, the session should not take longer than 30 minutes.
"We will ensure that all qualified people will be seen that day," said Downie.
Walk-ins are encouraged. If anyone would like to draft a will, they can make an appointment with legal assistance at Building 4700. The appointments are free. If anyone wanting to create advance directives is unable to attend NHDD, they can make an appointment and legal assistance will accommodate them.
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