Have You Ever Seen a Dead Body?

When people find out I work as an EMT one of the first questions that comes up is: Have you ever seen a dead body? The answer is yes. It only took a few months of working in EMS to see a dead body. It was definitely an uncomfortable feeling the first time I encountered it. It was an elderly gentleman that died at home in his kitchen. One of his neighbors found him and called for an ambulance. In this case he was already in rigor mortis which generally occurs about 3-4 hours after death. There wasn't much we could do other than to secure the scene for the police and the medical examiner.

Since then I've seen probably 20 to 25 deaths. Some are peaceful and others are traumatic. Each one is different and brings its own set of challenges. The most common scenario we see is a call in the morning for someone that didn't wake up. These are known as "untimely's" in the EMS world. Really though, they are anything but untimely. Typically they are elderly people with a host of medical conditions and it should come as no great surprise that they died. While sad for family and friends I think most of us would prefer to die in our sleep.

Traumatic deaths are a whole different story. They typically occur in car and motorcycle accidents and take people that are younger. Many of them are not wearing seat belts or driving aggressively while others are minding their own business and doing everything right.

By this point I've learned that death is unavoidable. We will all end up there one way or another. We can avoid risky behavior and decrease our chances of a traumatic death. We can exercise and eat well to avoid obesity and heart disease. Sometimes we're stuck with bad genetics and we just have to deal with what we're dealt.

When the time comes we can usually make some choices in how we want to go. There are DNRs, DNIs, living wills, palliative care, organ donation and many other options. The most important thing to do is have a discussion with your family about what you want before and after your death. With a little planning the end of life can be less chaotic and your family can focus on spending their time with you rather than trying to figure out your last wishes.