A common question for paramedics is, “What’s the worst call you’ve ever had?” Another favorite: “Is it possible to bring people back from the dead?” The answer to the second question might surprise you: Yes.
However, there is a catch. The patient can’t betoodead. It begins with whether we’re discussingclinical deathorbiological death. Both mean the patient is technically dead, but each term refers to a different level of permanency. One is fixable; the other is not.
This article explores the definitions of death and when it’s possible to bring someone back from the dead.
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Clinical Death
First comes clinical death, which iswhen breathing and blood flow stop. Clinical death is the same ascardiac arrest; the heart has stopped beating and blood has stopped flowing.
Technically, clinical death requires both the heart and the breathing to stop, but that’s just semantics. Breathing andconsciousnesswill cease within a few seconds of the heart stopping.
Clinical death is reversible. Researchers believe there’s a window of about five to 10 minutes from the moment of cardiac arrest to the development of serious brain damage. However, not all brain cells die at the same time. It is thought brain cells die slowly over hours or even days after the heart stops.
It’s important to note that the application of CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED) increase the chances of survival significantly.All is not lost with clinical death, but you must act quickly.
Biological Death
Biological death, on the other hand, is brain death, and there’s no turning back from brain death.That is irreversible death.
Since the heart works without brain input, it’s possible to keep it going for a long time after the brain is dead. Indeed, that’s one way that organ donation is possible.
Summary
It is possible to bring a dead person back to life, depending on the definition of dead. If a person is clinically dead, it is reversible—if they are brought back to life within five to 10 minutes of cardiac arrest. If a person is biologically dead, it isn’t reversible because brain death has occurred (even if the heart is still beating).
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s hard to say. There’ve been many reports of people whose hearts have stopped beating who later spontaneously regain theirvital signs, such as a 34-year-old woman in Spain who wasclinically deadfor six hours in December 2019.It’s thought such cases often occur because an extreme drop in body temperature prevents cell damage that leads to biological and irreversible death.
It’s hard to say. There’ve been many reports of people whose hearts have stopped beating who later spontaneously regain theirvital signs, such as a 34-year-old woman in Spain who wasclinically deadfor six hours in December 2019.
It’s thought such cases often occur because an extreme drop in body temperature prevents cell damage that leads to biological and irreversible death.
Although the UDDA has been adopted in all 50 states, each state uses it as a baseline only and may have stated exemptions to the definition.
The clinical term is delayed return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), which was coined in 1993.
There is research to suggest it’s an underreported event—in other words, more people have “come back to life” after their heart stops beating than is documented.
Learn MoreWhat It Means to Be in a Coma
7 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
NYU Langone Health.Cardiac arrest & death.
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Yan S, Gan Y, Jiang N, et al.The global survival rate among adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients who received cardiopulmonary resuscitation: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Crit Care. 2020;24(1):61. doi: 10.1186/s13054-020-2773-2
Burkle CM, Sharp RR, Wijdicks EF.Why brain death is considered death and why there should be no confusion.Neurology. 2014;83(16):1464-1469. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000000883
Sarbey B.Definitions of death: brain death and what matters in a person.J Law Biosci. 2016;3(3):743-752. doi:10.1093/jlb/lsw054
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