cablecat Posted May 26, 2004 #1 Share Posted May 26, 2004 I work in an a&e department and this happened just the other night. We were caring for a man who had been brought in after a collapse. He seemed to be doing OK after initial concerns and was in a cubicle awaiting admission to a medical ward. Suddenly he developped severe abdominal pain and had a very distended abdomen. He was in agony and the doctors suspected a leaking aortic aneurysm which is usually a life-threatening condition. He was rushed into our recuss room where he arrested, was recussitated once and arrested again and, after a large effort, was certified dead. He had absolutely no output and wasn't breathing. The nurses gradually removed all his canulas, bags and monitors and started to get him into a position so that the relatives outside could come in and say their goodbye's! All of a sudden he sat up and held his abdomen where the pain had been - his face contorted with agony. He didn't groan.........like I said, he wasn't breathing. He then flopped back down to the trolley and nothing more happened. Everyone just looked at each other in shock. More checks were made but he was most definitely dead but he appeared to still suffer his pain a few minutes after physical death. What do you think was going on here? We have never experienced anything like this before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC09 Posted May 26, 2004 #2 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Well there are various stages of death - cellular death, brain death ect. It's possible that while he appeared dead, he wasn't completely gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffybunny Posted May 26, 2004 #3 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Was he on a monitor? did he flatline? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairie Posted May 26, 2004 #4 Share Posted May 26, 2004 It's totally possible for people to move after death, the gases in their systems take a while to settle down and can cause movements and sounds from a corpse, but I've always believed these to take place some time after death, not immeadiately like this case. The only natural thing I can suggest is a mild electric charge stimulating the nerves briefly. But I definitely agree with sarkypi, good job the family weren't in the room at the time, pretty creepy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabyBash82 Posted May 26, 2004 #5 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Imagine it happened at an open casket wake? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daedelus Posted May 26, 2004 #6 Share Posted May 26, 2004 my brothers friend had to go to a funeral around the open casket were candles due to this the heat had and affect on the body and the body sat up in a right angle and slumped back. maybe the same happend to your patient because all those ppl did come into the room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurnSide Posted May 26, 2004 #7 Share Posted May 26, 2004 i've heard of bodies twitching because of electric currents still travelling through the body after death, but that is INSANE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boff Posted May 26, 2004 #8 Share Posted May 26, 2004 *shudder* that is creepy! And again, good thing the family wasnt in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kismit Posted May 26, 2004 #9 Share Posted May 26, 2004 I know that other bodilly functions can go on for quite some time after death . It is not so abnormal for a corpse in a morgue to suddenly sit up and let out a a painful moan or fart . It's natural and only the body releasing air . Is it possible that this is what took caused it ? I have an ex-boyfriend who worked in a morgue for a very short time . Oddly he quit not long after the first corpse sat up and moaned . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reader Posted May 26, 2004 #10 Share Posted May 26, 2004 my dad works at a morgue.. (gasp!). and he gets all the jobs people don't like to do...(cause he doesn't care.. it gives him more cash..) and he tells me about all the crazy things that happen there... like.. one time.. he was keeping watch on a burning body... and lurched up... scared the hell out of 'im... and did you know that when they burn the bodies.. the cartlige(bones) are what you get in the vase..... the rest of it gets mixed up with other peoples stuff.. . so disgusting... anyway... i agree.. good thing that the family wasn't there.. . and i agree with your body releasing gas and stuff after death.. that's common...(so my dad says) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saucy Posted May 26, 2004 #11 Share Posted May 26, 2004 could've been his nervous system as well or the soul leaping out of the body Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xanubia Posted May 27, 2004 #12 Share Posted May 27, 2004 That's creepy, but facsinating. I agree with what everyone else has been saying, it's all natural, maybe not to that extent, but there are extremes for everything right? Did you guys think he was alive after that? I also heard that bad people have very painful deaths.....just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dowdy Posted May 27, 2004 #13 Share Posted May 27, 2004 around the open casket were candles due to this the heat had and affect on the body and the body sat up in a right angle and slumped back. Would be funny if someone shouted out "HEY! I thought i killed you?!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lottie Posted May 27, 2004 #14 Share Posted May 27, 2004 I now have a slightly macabre image in my head. If this is the case then do you think its possible that we can feel physical pain when one is being cut open during the autopsy for example? I read or heard about this a few years ago and it has unsettled me ever since. Now that would be scary very scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairie Posted May 27, 2004 #15 Share Posted May 27, 2004 I don't see how we could actually feel anything after death, it has to just be a chemical reaction, the idea of an autopsy causing pain is something I definitely do not want to dwell on. Eewwww! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeceris Posted May 27, 2004 #16 Share Posted May 27, 2004 that is weird. you would have to determine what the cause of death is, to have a better idea. if it was an aortic aneurysm, possibly the pressure of the blood in the peritoneum could have built up causing the body to cramp up, until the blood escaped the peritoneal cavity. the symptoms that are described seem to indicate more of a perforation of the stomach or intestine, the abdomen becomes very rigid in this case and again the body could contract, but this would cause only a slight elevation of the head, not the body sitting perfectly upright. simplest explanation would be that he wasn't dead, people being pronounced dead and then briefly having vital signs again is common. after a person has died, if the body is turned on it's side, a groaning can be heard as the last bits of air escape from the lungs, this i have witnessed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cablecat Posted May 27, 2004 Author #17 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Thanks for all your replies. I still don't know the result of the PM but we are still guessing AAA. My feeling was that the brain dies slower than the rest of the body and as such was still experiencing what had been an extremely acute pain shortly after death. There must be something there after physical death as we recussitated a small child 30 minutes after drowning the other night too. This child had no pulse and wasn't breathing ............sadly is now only alive due to the aid life support But there have been other occasions where people have been without any output and have been brought back.............I know this is rarely done successfully but it does happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lottie Posted May 27, 2004 #18 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Cablecat I think you and people in your field do an amazing job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rummage Posted March 26, 2018 #19 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Ever been knocked out x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Not A Rockstar Posted March 26, 2018 #20 Share Posted March 26, 2018 4 hours ago, Rummage said: Ever been knocked out x Heck of a punch to be a dead thread for 14 years now and brought back Interesting one, though, wasn't it? Welcome to the forums, Rummage. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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