An 82-year-old woman, who was briefly declared dead in a nursing home in New York, was later found alive by funeral home attendants. This comes after a similar incident in Iowa where a 66-year-old woman with early-onset dementia was declared dead by a nurse but struggled to breathe when funeral home staff unzipped her body bag.
Let me tell you from the beginning, these events are very rare. But the fear of these false obituaries may be instinctive, which may explain an ancient maritime tradition. According to a tradition practiced in some places, when sewing a shroud for a deceased sailor, the sailor would put the last loop through the nose of the deceased. Inserting a needle of sailcloth into the nose was thought to be a stimulant strong enough to awaken any sailor who was still alive.
But the affirmation of death today is thankfully much less brutal.
Absence of heartbeat and breathing for a certain period of time, the presence of fixed, dilated pupils, and unresponsiveness to any stimulus mean that the person is dead. All doctors are taught how to do this and they are all aware of their duties.
Unfortunately, there may be cases where death is confirmed by this process, but then the patient shows signs of life.
The failure to carry out the death confirmation procedure properly explains some of the cases where some people were mistakenly declared dead. An improper examination due to distraction or any other reason may result in no heart sounds and no detection of shallow, infrequent breaths. Therefore, doctors are always expected to perform extensive examinations, but in some cases, some medications used by patients can make the job more difficult.
Sedative drugs are thought to somehow protect the brain from damage, and it may be necessary to stop the circulation for a while, especially in anesthesia used in major surgical procedures. An overdose of sedatives reduces responsiveness and suppresses breathing and circulation, leading to the impression of death while protecting the brain from hypoxia (oxygen starvation). Later, the person may wake up as the drug is excreted from the body.
Some toxins may have a similar effect. For example, it is known that some people, such as “miracle creators” or “voodoo magicians” in the past, made people appear dead with drugs collected from various animals and plants, and after a while these people “resurrected”.
Immersion in cold water can also cause the illusion of death due to its slowing effect on the heart rate. Survival after extended periods in water is well documented. It has long been taught in emergency medicine that a drowning patient’s death is not confirmed until he or she is warm. Good neurological recovery can be observed after immersion in cold water for up to 70 minutes.
The slowing of the heart and the drop in blood pressure during fainting episodes can also deceive the confirming doctor.
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