Many people’s greatest fear is that they will be declared dead when they are still alive.
According to KCCI-TV, such an incident occurred last month to a woman who was a resident of the Glen Oaks Alzheimer’s Special Care Center in Urbandale, Iowa.
According to the Des Moines Register, the woman’s health had been deteriorating since December, and she was placed in hospice care on December 28.
According to Iowa Capital Dispatch, the woman died on Jan. 3 around 6 a.m. because an employee at the facility was unable to feel the woman’s pulse.
The woman’s eyes were open, but they were fixed and unresponsive.
Her mouth was also open, but the staff reported that no breathing could be detected, so the worker notified one of the nurses on duty.
The nurse discovered the same thing.
Even with a stethoscope, the nurse discovered no breath sounds, pulse, or verbal response.
According to the Dispatch, the woman had a do-not-resuscitate order in place.
Prior to this discovery, the woman reportedly had minor seizures and mottled skin, both of which are indicators that death is near, according to the Register.
It was determined that the woman had died. Her relatives were notified, as was the funeral home.
The funeral director arrived just after 7:30 a.m. According to KCCI, the woman was placed in a cloth body bag that was zipped shut.
The funeral director unzipped the body bag at the funeral home about an hour later and discovered that the woman’s chest was moving and she was “gasping for air,” according to the Dispatch.
When the funeral director dialed 911, EMTs arrived and checked her oxygen levels, blood pressure, and pulse. Her eyes remained fixed in place, and she was nonverbal with no motor response.
The woman was taken to a nearby hospital’s emergency department. Her breathing was found to be shallow by the staff.
Soon after, she was returned to the Glen Oaks Facility for additional hospice care, where she died two days later, surrounded by her family.
According to KCCI, the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals fined the woman’s long-term care facility a total of $10,000 for two state violations.
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