Incredible events that seem like jokes often occur at facilities equipped with modern technology, leaving both those involved and bystanders horrified.
Misidentified as Dead
An 82-year-old woman was recently declared dead at a nursing home in New York City, USA. She was transported to a funeral home, only to be unexpectedly discovered alive by the staff there.
Earlier, a similar incident occurred in Iowa, USA, where a 66-year-old woman with early-onset dementia was pronounced dead by nurses. However, when the funeral home staff opened the body bag containing her, they found her still alive and gasping for breath.
Fortunately, such bizarre situations are not too common, but they still send chills down our spines. Why do such grievous mistakes happen?
Experts explain that signs such as the absence of a heartbeat, the cessation of breathing for a certain period, dilated pupils, and unresponsiveness to any stimuli all indicate that a person has died.
In reality, all doctors and nurses are trained to distinguish these signs, and they are aware of their responsibilities. However, in many cases, these individuals do not follow proper protocols, leading to the failure to detect a heartbeat and shallow breathing.
There are also instances where death has been carefully confirmed, yet the patient later shows signs of life.
Causes of “Death” Confusion
There are cases where death has been carefully confirmed, but later the person mysteriously revives. (Image source: Getty Images).
In certain cases, drugs, toxins, and cold water can contribute to rare situations where victims exhibit signs of apparent death.
Tranquilizers are the first point of consideration, as they protect the brain from damage and are used during anesthesia for patients undergoing major surgical procedures. These drugs can even cause the body to stop circulating blood for a period.
In cases of tranquilizer overdose, the patient may exhibit decreased responsiveness and a significant decline in both respiratory and circulatory function, leading to an “apparent death” state as the body protects the brain from oxygen deprivation. However, once the drug is eliminated from the body, the victim may regain consciousness.
Some toxins can have similar effects. Criminals often use a powder containing a small amount of tetrodotoxin from pufferfish to incapacitate their victims before abducting them.
This toxin damages the nervous system and can induce a deep coma. In many cases, victims are even mistakenly thought to be dead.
Moreover, immersion in ice water can lead to what is known as “death-like state” because it slows down the heart rate and general circulation.
In emergency medicine, doctors are taught that drowning victims cannot be considered dead until they are warmed up. Many similar cases have recorded recoveries of the nervous and respiratory systems of victims approximately 70 minutes after they were declared dead.
Fainting can also mislead even certified medical professionals. In Honduras, a pregnant teenager was presumed dead from shock after hearing gunshots nearby. She was even taken for burial.
However, at the funeral, people were startled when they heard a cry coming from the coffin.
Some experts explain that in this case, the girl’s body seemed to have activated the vagus nerve—the longest cranial nerve in the body—during her fainting episode. This caused her heart rate to slow down and her blood pressure to drop to nearly undetectable levels.
Ultimately, she was misidentified as dead and woke up after a prolonged fainting spell.
