Corpse Starts Breathing, Coroner seeks second opinion

Coroner Realizes 'Corpse' Is Living, Breathing Man
EMS Members Suspended Pending Investigation

POSTED: 7:22 am EST January 26, 2005

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A medical examiner studying a body in a morgue was taken aback when he saw the man take a shallow breath.

"I had to look twice myself just to make sure it was there, that's how subtle it (the breath) was," medical examiner J.B. Perdue said Tuesday.

Larry D. Green, who had been in the morgue at the Franklin County Sheriff's Department, was taken to Duke University Medical Center in Durham, where he was in critical condition Tuesday night.

Perdue was documenting Green's injuries to certify a cause a death when he noticed that Green, who had been declared dead at the accident scene after being hit by a car almost two hours earlier, was breathing.

Green, 29, of Louisburg, was in the middle of the dark intersection of U.S. 401 and N.C. 39 Monday when he was struck by a 1999 Toyota passenger car driven by Tamuel Jackson, 36, said Patty McQuillan, public information officer for the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, which oversees the state Highway Patrol.

Highway patrol and several emergency medical units arrived at the scene shortly after the 9 p.m. accident, McQuillan said. Emergency medical technicians declared Green dead and placed him in a body bag for transport to the morgue.

Once at the morgue, Perdue unzipped the body bag about 11 p.m. and began his examination.

"I saw a slight, irregular breath," Perdue said. "That's when I notified (emergency medical services) to quickly come back and pick up the body."

Green was taken to Franklin Regional Medical Center in Louisburg and then was transferred to Duke. Franklin County EMS referred questions to Darnell Batton, the county attorney, who said several members of the Franklin EMS have been suspended pending an investigation.

"I'm assuming that first thing in the morning, I'll get started," Batton said.

For the past 35 years, Perdue, a retired surgeon, has been performing an average of 100 medical examinations a year in Franklin County. He has never before encountered a live person in the course of an examination, he said.

http://www.local6.com/news/4130428/detail.html

That is crazy!!! Why weren't the trained paramedics on top of this?

Three paramedics and one EMT are now suspended "with pay" while case is being investigated. Victim still in critical condition, but "has shown some improvement". Is now moving his extremities, though still not awake.

This in today's news:

FRANKLIN COUNTY, N.C. -- The State Board of EMS is taking action in the wake of a Franklin County man who was mistakenly pronounced dead.

The agency summarily suspended the credentials of Wade R. Kearney II of Henderson and Paul Kilmer of Louisburg for EMS rules violations. Their suspension orders note that the agency cannot permit them to continue performing as credentialed emergency medical services personnel.

Last week, Larry Donnell Green was pronounced dead after he was hit by a car in Franklin County. Hours later while in a body bag, Green started to show signs of life. He was eventually taken to a hospital and remains in critical condition.

In addition, the agency found that Kearney made his determination of death without conducting a thorough assessment of the patient. The agency found that Kilmer made his determination of death by taking the word of Kearney, an off-duty paramedic responding to the scene as a first responder.

The agency also found that both Kearney and Kilmer failed to use proper equipment available that could have identified life functions before making a determination of death.

"We cannot emphasize enough the critical importance of following all the established protocols for the safety of the patient," said Drexdal Pratt, chief of the N.C. Office of Emergency Medical Services.

On Monday night, Franklin County officials will convene in a closed meeting to talk about a report from the county attorney detailing the incident. It is unclear if the report will be released to the public.

This is exactly the reason I refuse to be cremated! I'd probably wake up about the time someone strikes a match to me!