Scandal death suspected woke up at Undertaker

Screams from the cold room: the suspected dead wakes up at the undertaker

03/25/2015

A supposedly dead woman woke up at a funeral home in Gelsenkirchen. Employees had suddenly heard screams from the refrigerator. The 92-year-old, who needed care, was taken to a hospital. A doctor had declared the old lady in the retirement home dead.

Screams from the fridge
After the employees of a funeral home brought the body of an old woman into the cold room, closed the heavy door and filled in some documents, they wanted to leave work. But suddenly one of the employees hears a scream from the inside of the refrigerator, reports the news agency dpa. At first, his colleague does not want to believe him, but when they open the door, they make a shocking discovery: The 92-year-old believed to be lying screaming and with open eyes in the open body bag on the couch.

Doctor had issued death certificate
The managing director of the funeral home Bergermann in Gelsenkirchen, Stefan Menge, is still stunned when he tells what happened on Saturday night. „Around 7 pm, the senior center called. A resident had died“, explained quantity. Two employees arrive one hour later to pick up the 92-year-old. „The doctor had issued the death certificate and stated as the time of death 16.30 clock.“ Previously, a nurse had found the elderly woman apparently without breathing in her bed, a police spokesman said on Monday. „The woman was in serious need of care and had expected her death.“

believed dead „could respond to questions of the emergency doctor“
The two employees of the funeral home hunt down the seemingly dead after the relatives have said goodbye to the 92-year-olds. „The shock of my employees is deep“, so Stefan lot. When they discovered that the old lady was still alive, they called an ambulance and the police. „The woman was approachable and could respond to questions from the emergency doctor“, explained Stefan Menge. It had already passed four and a half hours since the supposed time of death. The elderly woman was taken to a clinic. „In a few days she can go back to the retirement home“, informed the Undertaker. He was also the one who informed the relatives that the woman is not dead after all: „They could not believe that.“

The criminal police determined
Even Stefan Menge can not explain how it could come to such an error. „There are clear guidelines according to which a doctor has to make a death diagnosis. Exposing the pulse and breathing alone is not enough“, the undertaker explained. It is said that the funeral home has existed since 1873 - „but something like that has never happened before. And I know no similar case“, so the manager. According to the information, the Criminal Police now determines whether there has been a failure to ascertain death. „I'm just glad that my employees were still there when the woman woke up“, so Stefan lot.

Death diagnoses according to German guidelines
In recent years, experts in this country have increasingly discussed death diagnoses, especially in connection with organ donation. So had the „Southgerman newspaper“ (SZ) reported last year that brain death diagnoses in German hospitals are not always made in accordance with the guidelines. One of these guidelines in Germany is that two qualified doctors must independently diagnose and agree. In addition, all circumstances should be excluded, which only numb the brain like medication, coma, too low body temperature or poisoning. However, according to the newspaper, brain death diagnoses were also made, although, for example, the patient was recently anesthetized with strong analgesics. (Ad)