After a nursing home sent a woman's body to a funeral home under the assumption that she had died, the 66-year-old in the United States suddenly started "gasping for air" inside a body bag, as per a report in the New York Post.
The nursing home, Glen Oaks Alzheimer's Special Care Center in suburban Des Moines, Iowa, is now facing a $10,000 (Rs 8.2 lakh) fine for pronouncing an alive person dead, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals. The report accused the facility of failing to provide "dignified treatment and care at end of life" for residents and the centre was fined the highest amount permitted by state law.
According to the outlet, a staff member had trouble finding the woman's pulse on January 3. The patient, who experienced early onset of dementia, anxiety and depression, had only recently been transferred to the hospice care at the facility. As per the report released by the department, the woman had been experiencing mild seizures, had "diminished" lung sounds and irregular marks on the skin days prior to the incident.
The employee, who was nearing the end of her 12-hour shift, called for help. The nurse practitioner told investigators that she couldn't find a heartbeat and had not noticed the woman breathing, according to the report. Around 90 minutes after the first staff member expressed concerns, the 66-year-old patient was declared dead, The Post stated.
The woman was put into a body bag and taken to the Ankeny Funeral House & Crematory, when their staff members discovered that she was still alive, despite the fact that neither the funeral home employee nor the second nurse practitioner had seen any indications of life on the woman.
The report stated, "At approximately 8:26 aa funeral home staff unzipped the bag and observed Resident #1's chest was moving and she was gasping for air."
She was taken to a neighbouring hospital after the funeral home called US emergency helpline 911. It was later found that the 66-year-old was still breathing but not responding. She was sent to the nursing home where she died on January 5, two days after the incident, with her loved ones by her side.
The Ankeny police department is not pressing charges, despite the fact that the state found that the care centre "failed to provide proper instructions to ensure appropriate cares and services were provided" before the woman was pronounced dead.
