Another Woman Found Breathing Hours After Being Pronounced Dead. "Awful Situation."
Another elderly woman has been found alive after being declared dead.
Recently the unthinkable happened at a continuing care center in Des Moines, Iowa. After declaring one of their patients dead, a 66-year-old woman was transferred to a local funeral home in a body bag. However, when she arrived at the funeral home and crematory, funeral parlor workers found her breathing. Just a week after the shocking report, a nearly identical scenario has unfolded, this time in New York involving an elderly woman.
A Woman Was Declared Dead
An 82-year-old woman who was living at Water's Edge Rehab and Nursing Center in Port Jefferson was declared dead on Saturday at 11:15 a.m., according to Suffolk County Police. She was then take to O.B. Davis Funeral Home in Miller Place at 1:30 p.m.
However, she wasn't dead. At 2:09 p.m. she was found breathing and was promptly taken to a local hospital. Her current condition has yet to be updated and her identity hasn't been revealed. "We do not have info on her condition," the police department said on Tuesday.
The Attorney General Called It an "Awful Situation"
The case is under investigation by Suffolk County police and the New York State Department of Health. "This is an awful situation that caused unnecessary trauma for the impacted resident and her loved ones," the attorney general's office said in an emailed statement to CNN.
CNN affiliate WABC reached out to the funeral home. "Out of respect for the privacy and confidentiality of the families we are honored to serve, we are not in a position to comment further on this matter," they said.
"Upon learning of this incident, the New York State Department of Health has begun an investigation. As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment at this time," Department of Health Public Information Officer Monica Pomeroy added to People.
Just a few weeks ago, Water's Edge center was named one of the best nursing homes in the country by U.S. News and World Report. The center has yet to comment on the situation.
The Iowa Situation Was Strikingly Similar
Per the Des Moines Register, a staff member at the Glen Oaks Alzheimer's Special Care Center in a Des Moines suburb reported that a 66-year-old patient with early-onset dementia had died at about 6 a.m. on January 3rd. A staff member couldn't feel the woman's pulse, so she alerted a nurse practitioner, who legally declared her dead, noting signs of death prior to passing, including minor seizures and mottled skin.
However, just 90 minutes later, when she arrived at Ankeny Funeral Home & Crematory in a zipped body bag, the workers noticed the woman's chest was moving so they called 911. The woman was taken to Mercy West Lakes Hospital, where she was found to be breathing but unresponsive. She was returned to hospice care and died on January 5. Per the department of inspections and appeals report, the Urbandale care center had "failed to provide adequate direction to ensure appropriate cares and services were provided," and was fined $10,000.
