A patient was mistakenly pronounced dead by emergency room paramedics and later woke up in hospital. The unusual incident occurred on Friday, 13th, at Darlington Memorial Hospital, in Durham, England.
The patient’s identity was not revealed, nor was his current state of health. The English Ambulance Service apologized to the family and said an investigation had been launched.
“As soon as we became aware of this incident, we opened an investigation and contacted the patient’s family. A full review of this incident is being carried out and we are unable to provide further details at this stage of the investigation,” said Director of Ambulance Services, Andrew Hodge.
The incident, as the English press pointed out, is not an isolated case. The service has already been the target of allegations of negligence in medical care. In one case, they declared the patient dead without even performing resuscitation maneuvers.
