Law firms in Florida and Iowa are offering free living wills to teachers in states where they must return to classrooms amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A living will, also known as an advance directive, is a legal document that specifies an individual’s course of medical treatment if they are unable to communicate their wishes to a doctor.
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As teachers continue to voice their health concerns over returning to in-person classes, lawyers are urging them to get their legal affairs in order.
In Florida, where infection rates have skyrocketed in recent weeks, Gallagher & Associates in St. Petersburg offered to help teachers at no cost.
“G&A is happy to provide gratis living wills/advance directors for teachers involuntarily forced to return to the classroom,” the firm said on its Facebook page last week. “While we agree with medical experts that it is premature to reopen schools in this Tampa Bay hot zone, we want to do our part to help teachers that are forced to return.”
Meanwhile, Pensacola attorney Robert Allen offered teachers a discounted rate for living wills.
“I consider teachers as part of the first responders,” Allen told WEAR-TV. “They’re going to be the ones that go in risking their health to make the economy strong.”
In Des Moines, the Law Group of Iowa also is offering educators living will updates for free, WHO-TV reported.
Attorney Brad Biren told the station that many people typically declare in documents that they don’t want to be put on ventilators because they are considered end-of-life treatment or because of their effects on quality of life. But Biren said those thoughts have changed since ventilators are now used to treat COVID-19 patients.
Both Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds have come under criticism from educators and unions in recent days after mandating that at least some in-person classes resume.
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One of Florida’s largest teachers unions sued DeSantis and other state officials on Monday over safety concerns as the number of coronavirus cases continue to surge in the state.
Florida reported 10,347 new positive COVID-19 cases on Sunday, its sixth day in a row with more than 10,000 reported infections, bringing the total to 360,394. The state also reported 90 more deaths for a total of 5,072 fatalities since the pandemic began.
Meanwhile, teachers in Iowa sent Reynolds their own obituaries to protest returning to schools without further safety precautions in place. The state has not yet mandated face coverings in schools, according to local reports.
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Iowa has reported a total of 39,420 confirmed coronavirus cases and 799 deaths as of Tuesday.
