Hi, Health, apologies for late reply. No law student nor lawyer, funny you should say that, my father used to think I have a talent for that, he insisted I should become one. I don’t. He introduced me to real lawyers since I was a child, which made me evident the difference between my brain and theirs! I chose a completely different path, not in the medical profession either.
I do not think the lady had Alzheimer because she was living in a low-care setting. The very fact that an employee called 911 suggests there is no MD on duty on the site. It also suggests the facility does not routinely asks patients and family to either sign a DNR or express their wish to be resuscitated: with a DNR, assuming 911 is called (it is absurd as you said already, but it may well be called, just to cover their backs and document everything independently), the recording would have been different, with the nurse stating that the patient has a DNR and the document is in her hands and will be shown to EMT upon their arrival.
I agree with you about sanctioning those who, for no reason at all, withhold help. How would you write such a law? It is not easy to implement in practice. Perhaps you remember the debate a few years ago in California.