Florida Do Not Resuscitate Form: DH 1896, Signing, and Revocation

To get a valid Florida Do Not Resuscitate form, download Form DH 1896 from the Florida Department of Health website, print it on yellow paper, and have it signed by the patient (or an authorized representative) and a qualifying healthcare provider. The yellow paper is not decorative. EMS personnel are not required to honor the order on any other color.¹

What the Form Does and Where It Applies

A Florida DNRO tells emergency medical technicians and paramedics to withhold CPR if a person’s heart stops or they stop breathing. That covers chest compressions, artificial ventilation, defibrillation, and emergency cardiac medications. The order is governed by Florida Statute 401.45 and Florida Administrative Code Rule 64J-2.018.²

Form DH 1896 is designed for out-of-hospital emergencies. It tells paramedics and EMTs what to do when they arrive at a home, nursing facility, or other setting outside a hospital. The Florida Department of Health does not regulate the DNR processes hospitals use internally, and many hospitals, health care facilities, and hospice programs use their own DNR documentation.¹ If the patient is admitted to a hospital, ask the care team how their resuscitation wishes will be documented in that setting. Bringing the yellow form may not be enough on its own.

Who Can Sign the Form

The form requires two signatures: the patient (or an authorized representative) and a qualifying healthcare provider. Any competent adult can request a DNRO. No terminal diagnosis is required.

Qualifying Healthcare Providers

You may see older guidance saying only a licensed physician can sign. That’s incomplete. Under Florida Administrative Code Rule 64J-2.018, the form can be signed by a physician, an osteopathic physician, an autonomous advanced practice registered nurse, or a physician assistant.³ Florida Statute 401.45 also authorizes physician assistants as signers.² If your primary care is with a PA or APRN, that provider can complete the form.

Signing on Behalf of a Patient Who Lacks Capacity

If the patient cannot make their own decisions, Florida law lets three categories of people sign for them:

A healthcare surrogate or proxy designated under Chapter 765.
A court-appointed guardian under Chapter 744 with delegated health care decision-making authority.
An attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney (Chapter 709) that expressly includes health care decisions.²

A general power of attorney that doesn’t mention health care decisions isn’t enough. The authority has to be specifically delegated.

Completing Form DH 1896

Form DH 1896 is available for free from the Florida Department of Health. You can also get a copy through a physician’s office, hospital, or hospice program. The form is short, but the printing rule is strict: it must be on yellow paper before anyone signs. Any shade of yellow works. White paper with yellow highlighter does not.³

Fill in the patient’s full legal name and date of birth. The patient or authorized representative signs, and the provider signs and prints their name. The Florida DNRO does not require notarization or witnesses. Once both signatures are on the yellow form, it is legally valid.

Keeping the Form Accessible

A signed DNRO only works if EMS can see it during an emergency. A form in a filing cabinet has the same effect as no form at all. Give copies to family members, the primary care provider, any specialists, and any facility where the patient receives treatment. Every copy must also be on yellow paper.

At home, keep the DNRO in plain sight. Common spots are the refrigerator door or a wall near the patient’s bed. The bottom portion of Form DH 1896 includes a reduced-size version meant to be cut out, folded, and carried as a wallet card. That wallet device has the same legal effect as the full form when it is worn or carried so that EMS providers can readily find it.³ For patients who often leave the house, the wallet card is the most important step after signing.

Why a Living Will Is Not a Substitute

Many people assume a living will keeps paramedics from performing CPR. It does not. Without a DNRO, EMS personnel are required to attempt resuscitation even if a living will says the patient does not want life-prolonging treatment.

Under Florida Statute 765.303, a living will covers what should happen if you develop a terminal condition, an end-stage condition, or enter a persistent vegetative state. It can address feeding tubes, ventilators, and other life-prolonging procedures, and it requires witnesses.⁴ A DNRO answers only one question in one setting: should CPR be performed right now, outside the hospital? It is the document EMTs and paramedics are trained and required to follow in the field.¹ If you want both broad end-of-life planning and protection from unwanted resuscitation at home, you need both documents.

Changing or Revoking a DNRO

A DNRO can be revoked at any time. No paperwork or provider approval is required. Under Florida Administrative Code Rule 64J-2.018, a competent patient can revoke the order by:

Telling medical personnel verbally that they want to be resuscitated.
Expressing a contrary intent in writing.
Physically destroying the form.
Simply not presenting it to EMS.³

Florida’s advance directive statute adds that a new written document signed in the same manner as the original also revokes the earlier one.⁵ To modify a DNRO rather than cancel it, complete and sign a new Form DH 1896, which replaces the old one.

The step people skip is telling everyone who holds a copy. If a yellow form is still on the refrigerator after the patient changed their mind, the paramedic who walks in has no way to know. Notify family, caregivers, and providers whenever a DNRO is revoked or replaced, and collect or destroy the old copies.

Getting Help Completing the Form

Medicare covers advance care planning conversations with your physician or qualified provider under CPT codes 99497 and 99498. These are face-to-face visits where the provider explains advance directives and can help you complete forms like the DNRO. When the conversation happens during your Annual Wellness Visit with the same provider, Medicare waives the Part B deductible and coinsurance entirely.⁶ Scheduling the discussion alongside your annual checkup is the simplest way to avoid any out-of-pocket cost.

1
Florida Department of Health. Do Not Resuscitate Order
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 401-45 – Denial of Emergency Treatment
3
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R 64J-2.018 – Do Not Resuscitate Order DNRO Form and Device
4
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 765.303 – Suggested Form of a Living Will
5
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 765.104 – Amendment or Revocation
6
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. MLN909289 – Advance Care Planning