Can paramedics pronounce death?

[kate1976]

or is it just doctors who can pronounce death?

[burnhal]

In the UK it has to be a doctor- thats why so many are 'pronounced dead on arrival (at hospital)'

[kate1976]

Thank you!

[doglady]

And if you do First Aid you aren't allowed to decide people are dead. Even if their head is the other side of the road, you have to run backwards and forwards to do chest compressions and artificial respiration.

Not being gross - that's what they told us on the course I went on.

[kate1976]

Thanks for that image doglady, makes me glad I'm not a first aider!!

[laurence2]

As a Train driver, we hit a Jumper {suicide} we cannot relay to anyone that the person who jumped is dead, even tho the body is like mince meat {sorry for pointing that out} and in a thousand bits.

As burnhal pointed out, it has to be a doctor who pronounces that someone is dead, tho in the cases above, the doctor actually comes to the scene of the incident

[kate1976]

Thanks for your reply and also that image laurence!!

[pappasmurf]

No, they all say DEF.
very strange.
Hope this helps.

[kazza12345]

lol @ above answer!
Anyway, when i used to work at the hospital, i seem to remember there was some talk about nurses being trained to "pronounce" death I.E. record it in the medical notes so that the person could be moved to the chapel of rest. When working nightshift this might be important, as a junior doctor would have to leave their a and e work to come to the ward to pronounce death which could take hours and hours, wheras the hospital authorities would rather it be done quickly so we could slide anothe rpatient into that bed directly. Not sure wht became of that idea but i have no reason to suspect it didnt happen, after all, its hardly something that only a doctor could do ... you just have to listen for a heartbeat and watch to see if any breath is taken for, i think, 2 minutes (i'm talking about expected/non cpr deaths here)

[Grunty]

Many years ago, as a police officer, I dealt with a case of a man hit by a train. I sent the ambulance away and said that the man was dead. The crew asked for the name of the doctor who had pronounced death. I replied "I'll do this one myself. I am holding the biggest part of his head in my hand. His left foot is still on the engine and the rest of him is spread over 140 yards". It was accepted.

[kate1976]

Thanks to all who put my curiosity at ease!

Lol @ Pappasmurf, I was expecting someone to come up with that answer!!

Thanks again!

[Count-Kostaki]

You are actually all only half-right. In the UK a nurse or paramedic can pronounce or verify death perfectly legally - you do not need a doctor to announce that someone has died. However "certifying" death is a different issue entirely. Only a doctor on the medical register can certify death - ie write out the death certificate which states where and how the person died. The two issues of verifying and certifying are entirely different things.