What to do when someone dies?
Discussion
What should one do when you find someone dead (parent at their home, partner at your home, whatever)?
Do you call 999 for an ambulance (as I understand it they will not move dead people)? Call the Police? Call an undertaker? Something else?
I thought I'd google the answer but according to .gov.uk the first thing you need to do is to register the death which doesn't sound at all right to me, it could be days til the register office is open and you can get an appointment ! -
https://www.gov.uk/when-someone-dies
Do you call 999 for an ambulance (as I understand it they will not move dead people)? Call the Police? Call an undertaker? Something else?
I thought I'd google the answer but according to .gov.uk the first thing you need to do is to register the death which doesn't sound at all right to me, it could be days til the register office is open and you can get an appointment ! -
https://www.gov.uk/when-someone-dies
That Gov website (as you probably know) is what you do in terms of admin and reporting in the days following the death. The immediate response would be by the police, they are the initial representatives for the Coroner's Office, the death might be suspicious and need further investigation. The operator can ask questions about whether an ambulance is needed.
I suspect it will be dependent upon the circumstances.
My father died at home last year. His health had been deteriorating for a long time. In the final 48 hours the palliative care team had visited perhaps 5 or 6 times. After his death we called them and they sent a nurse around when within 30 minutes or so to confirm his death. We then rang the undertaker who arrived within an hour to remove his body. In amongst all of that his carers visited and washed and dressed him.
Had he 'simply' died in his sleep, I'm not what we would have done!
My father died at home last year. His health had been deteriorating for a long time. In the final 48 hours the palliative care team had visited perhaps 5 or 6 times. After his death we called them and they sent a nurse around when within 30 minutes or so to confirm his death. We then rang the undertaker who arrived within an hour to remove his body. In amongst all of that his carers visited and washed and dressed him.
Had he 'simply' died in his sleep, I'm not what we would have done!
This Scottish guidance suggests contacting the doctor. https://www.gov.scot/publications/death-scotland-p...
When my father in law was found dead at 23:00 by a neighbour because he hadn’t taken his bins in and the dog was barking (so sudden and unexpected) the first call they made was 999.
Police and ambulance turned up at about the same time, ambulance confirmed he was dead and not coming back….. (subsequently worked out he’d been dead for c30hours) police secured the scene (ie made sure all the doors were locked), called an undertaker and started trying to trace next of kin. Not sure if the police stayed on scene until undertaker arrived or left the keys under the 3rd brick on the left.
We got the knock on the door at about 02:00 and the next morning went down to meet neighbour, police and undertaker.
Police and ambulance turned up at about the same time, ambulance confirmed he was dead and not coming back….. (subsequently worked out he’d been dead for c30hours) police secured the scene (ie made sure all the doors were locked), called an undertaker and started trying to trace next of kin. Not sure if the police stayed on scene until undertaker arrived or left the keys under the 3rd brick on the left.
We got the knock on the door at about 02:00 and the next morning went down to meet neighbour, police and undertaker.
If the death is expected, ie on end of life care or a medical practitioner has left a current statement of intent in place then contact the GP surgery for verification of death and once this is done contact the funeral director.
In the case of an unexpected death, a 999 call to the ambulance service is appropriate. On their arrival they may contact the police as the death will be referred to the coroner. The police will do an initial external examination of the deceased then contact the funeral director. Depending on the local rules the deceased will be transferred to either the local mortuary or to the funeral director's premises. The deceased may be transferred from there to the mortuary if required by the coroner.
SD.
In the case of an unexpected death, a 999 call to the ambulance service is appropriate. On their arrival they may contact the police as the death will be referred to the coroner. The police will do an initial external examination of the deceased then contact the funeral director. Depending on the local rules the deceased will be transferred to either the local mortuary or to the funeral director's premises. The deceased may be transferred from there to the mortuary if required by the coroner.
SD.
Scarletpimpofnel said:
Ok thanks so concensus seems to be call for an ambulance who will confirm dead, then police may or may not turn up, then call an undertaker.
Thanks all.
Only call the undertaker when life has been pronounced extinct. Getting a call from the family at half one in the morning and then waiting several hours for the GP to verify death isn't conducive to a full night's sleep for the on call staff. Thanks all.
SD.
Worth noting that if you call 999 they will treat the situation as a workable cardiac arrest until proven otherwise, so the Call handler will start providing CPR instructions unless certain keywords/phrases/description of the patient have been volunteered by the caller or a DNaR/ReSPECT form is in place.
chewie2606 said:
Worth noting that if you call 999 they will treat the situation as a workable cardiac arrest until proven otherwise, so the Call handler will start providing CPR instructions unless certain keywords/phrases/description of the patient have been volunteered by the caller or a DNaR/ReSPECT form is in place.
What phrases are they? Would 'it's too late for that' do?Terminator X said:
Call the police. I did t realise until recently that a doctor always comes out to pronounce them dead etc.
TX.
Yep, guy next door to me when I lived in a flat died in his sleep, his friends were worried and we got a ladder up to his window-1st floor- and sadly he was bloated on his bed.TX.
We called the police, who strangely asked me for permission to kick the door in, and the smell was awful!
Police stayed at his front door until doctor arrived, about 2 hrs later.
This was Met police.
chewie2606 said:
Worth noting that if you call 999 they will treat the situation as a workable cardiac arrest until proven otherwise, so the Call handler will start providing CPR instructions unless certain keywords/phrases/description of the patient have been volunteered by the caller or a DNaR/ReSPECT form is in place.
Yes an old infirm lady I knew woke up to her husband dead next to her. Was told by the call handler to do CPR.... the poor old dear couldn't manage it and nearly croaked herself at the stress and strain of attempting the CPR on a (sadly) lost cause. Austin Prefect said:
What phrases are they? Would 'it's too late for that' do?
It depends on the triage system in place (there are two used in the UK), but if the caller believes the patient has passed away would be asked why they think that, and a concise description (understanding it can be very emotive for the caller) of why, such as they are cold, stiff (signs of rigor mortis) etc should be sufficient."it's too late for that" should trigger the Call handler to question why, but isn't enough to triage as an obvious death.
Marcellus said:
When my father in law was found dead at 23:00 by a neighbour because he hadn’t taken his bins in and the dog was barking (so sudden and unexpected) the first call they made was 999.
Police and ambulance turned up at about the same time, ambulance confirmed he was dead and not coming back….. (subsequently worked out he’d been dead for c30hours) police secured the scene (ie made sure all the doors were locked), called an undertaker and started trying to trace next of kin. Not sure if the police stayed on scene until undertaker arrived or left the keys under the 3rd brick on the left.
We got the knock on the door at about 02:00 and the next morning went down to meet neighbour, police and undertaker.
You can't leave us hanging.....Police and ambulance turned up at about the same time, ambulance confirmed he was dead and not coming back….. (subsequently worked out he’d been dead for c30hours) police secured the scene (ie made sure all the doors were locked), called an undertaker and started trying to trace next of kin. Not sure if the police stayed on scene until undertaker arrived or left the keys under the 3rd brick on the left.
We got the knock on the door at about 02:00 and the next morning went down to meet neighbour, police and undertaker.
What happened to the poor dog?
Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff