Where to Store Advance Directive PEI

You've signed your Health Care Directive, your proxy has signed to accept, and the document is legally valid. Now comes the step that determines whether it actually works in an emergency: making sure the people who need it can find it in minutes, not hours.

PEI doesn't have a centralized public registry where you file your directive and it appears in every hospital database automatically. The province relies on a combination of clinical registration, physical copies, and wallet-level notification. Each layer serves a different scenario, and missing any one of them creates a gap.

The Clinical EMR: Your Most Important Step

Health PEI operates a provincial Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system. When your family physician or nurse practitioner receives a copy of your Health Care Directive, they can scan it into your clinical file. Once there, it's accessible to any Health PEI facility — including the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown, Prince County Hospital in Summerside, and community care facilities across the province.

More importantly, when you have a Goals of Care conversation with your doctor, the resulting GCD medical order (R, M, or C) gets saved directly to the EMR as an active clinical order. This is the most powerful storage mechanism available, because it converts your written preferences into a standing medical order that emergency responders and hospital staff can access immediately.

How to do it: Hand-deliver your signed Health Care Directive to your family physician's office. Ask explicitly: "Can you scan this into my EMR file?" Then schedule a Goals of Care Designation conversation to translate your preferences into a GCD order. After the appointment, confirm: "Is the GCD saved to the EMR and accessible to other Health PEI facilities?"

Your Proxy's Copy

Your proxy needs a physical copy of the directive in a location they can access at any time. Not in a desk drawer at their office, not in a folder they'll need to search for — somewhere they can grab it within minutes of receiving a phone call from the hospital.

If you've named alternate proxies, each one needs their own copy as well. The scenario where an alternate gets called in is often the most chaotic — the primary proxy is unavailable, the hospital is trying to reach the next person on the list, and that person needs the document ready.

Home Storage

PEI's standard recommendation is a clear plastic sleeve attached to the refrigerator with a visible magnet. First responders and EMS personnel are trained to check the fridge area for medical directives during a home emergency. It's not the most elegant filing system, but it works for the scenario that matters: you're incapacitated at home and paramedics need to know your treatment preferences immediately.

If the refrigerator location doesn't work for your living situation, pick any visible, unlocked, ground-floor location that emergency responders could find without searching. The worst place is a locked safe, a safe deposit box, or a filing cabinet in a home office. If it takes a key or a combination to access, it's effectively inaccessible during an emergency.

Health PEI Advance Care Planning Wallet Card

This is a small card you carry in your wallet at all times. It doesn't contain your full directive — it confirms that a directive exists, names your proxy with contact information, and alerts emergency responders to check for your GCD in the EMR.

First responders routinely check wallets for medical information. The card bridges the gap between the moment paramedics arrive and when they can access the EMR system. It tells them: this person has documented preferences; contact this proxy; check the electronic record before defaulting to full resuscitative care.

Family Notification

Even though only your proxy has legal decision-making authority, immediate family members should know that the directive exists and that it's registered clinically. This prevents two problems: relatives contacting the hospital and insisting on treatment you've refused (because they didn't know about your directive), and family disputes that could pull in the Public Guardian and Trustee if no one realizes a proxy has already been appointed.

You don't need to give every family member a copy of the full directive. Simply informing them that you've completed one, that it's on file with your doctor, and that your proxy is authorized to make decisions is sufficient.

What Happens If the Directive Can't Be Found

If you arrive at the emergency department unconscious and no directive, wallet card, or GCD order can be located, the clinical team will provide standard emergency care — effectively Designation R, full resuscitative interventions. This isn't a failure of the system; it's the only safe default when documentation is missing.

This is why redundancy matters. The EMR registration and GCD order are your primary layer — they're accessible electronically even if your wallet, your fridge copy, and your proxy are all unreachable. The physical copies and wallet card are backup layers that cover the gaps.

The Prince Edward Island Advance Directive & Living Will Kit includes a Storage and Distribution Log that tracks who holds current copies, when they were delivered, and when they need to be updated — plus the Advance Care Planning wallet card template.

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