Noelia Serna, 'Dead' Colombian Woman, Moves Arm At Funeral Home

[KatWrangler]

Now for some weird news....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_466349.html

BOGOTA, Colombia — A Colombian woman declared dead of a heart attack moved one of her arms just as an undertaker was about to embalm her, doctors said Wednesday.

[hakeber]

Well it certainly is one reason to reconsider my plans for cremation.

[AdinaL]

EEEK!!!!!

[TiredX2]

On rare occasions, a person's heart rate and breathing can drop to undetectable levels, leading doctors to erroneously declare a patient dead, said neurosurgeon Juan Mendoza Vega, a member of the Colombian National Medical Ethics Board.

I wonder what "undetectable" levels are in this situation. I would expect them to monitor pulse & breathing for longer than a minute before declaring death. Was it really that slow? Or do they actually only wait like 5 seconds (that would only be 12 beats/minute which doesn't seem sustainable).

I wonder if she will be okay or if there has been major brain damage?

[CrunchyChristianMama]

That poor lady....and poor embalmer! Can you imagine how scared he will be to work on the next person he gets. Or how freaked out you would be that you maybe in the past embalmed someone who was actually alive?!?

[JessicaS]

I would have wet my pants. Seriously.

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by Evie's Mama

That poor lady....and poor embalmer! Can you imagine how scared he will be to work on the next person he gets. Or how freaked out you would be that you maybe in the past embalmed someone who was actually alive?!?

OMG I didn't even think of that. I bet the embalmer shakes the heck out of the rest of her "customers".

[Kathryn]

Right? I bet the embalmer slaps the next person around a little bit. What a shock.

[KatWrangler]

Originally Posted by abimommy

I would have wet my pants. Seriously.

Cleanup in isle 3!

[Satori]

Originally Posted by TiredX2

I wonder what "undetectable" levels are in this situation. I would expect them to monitor pulse & breathing for longer than a minute before declaring death. Was it really that slow? Or do they actually only wait like 5 seconds (that would only be 12 beats/minute which doesn't seem sustainable).

I wonder if she will be okay or if there has been major brain damage?

Yep, they only wait 5-10 seconds, I don't know what the record is but I know you can really slow it down through meditation or hypnosis. This has happened many times, you'd think just having a warm body a couple hours after death or rig not setting in would tip them off that Hey! Maybe there not dead?