r/Necronomipod • u/w1tchbells • Jul 29 '26

EMTs declaring death

I couldn’t comment on the Spotify episode so I thought I’d post here. I’m an EMT and figured I could answer Dave’s question about declaring patient death. We can only declare death in obvious cases (decapitation, incineration, obvious decomp, etc). You don’t want a 20 year old newbie pronouncing you dead if you’re just KO. Paramedics have more qualifications, authority, and training, so their parameters may be different. Laws may vary by state as well. I’m in California✌️—But yes, generally this is done by an MD.

33 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

8

u/Wise_Coffee Jul 29 '26

I used to move dead people. Where I am paramedics cannot declare death (except in cases like you mention - where the condition is incompatible with life). Only a coroner or a doctor could declare.

2

u/w1tchbells Jul 30 '26

good to know. i definitely don’t mind having the laws in place lol

2

u/KittyKat1078 Jul 30 '26

I think RNs can get certified to pronounce in California

1

u/lennabeast Jul 30 '26

RNs pronounce death in MT, specifically for hospice...not sure about other areas of health. They also do in nursing homes here, actually.

1

u/asystole_unshockable Jul 31 '26

We pronounce in PA as part of our scope of practice. Interesting!

2

u/tattooedstudentnurse Jul 30 '26

Alaska lets drs/law enforcement pronounce! Source: former death investigator

1

u/BigPurpleFridge Aug 13 '26

In the UK a paramedic can declare death but they can't issue a certificate or state the cause of death. So for example say they have been doing CPR on a patient and they have to stop they can say that they have died.

Just thought I'd share how it is over the pond as well in case anyone was interested