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Monday, October 18, 2010

Woman comes back to life after pronounced DEAD!


An Anne Arundel County woman who police reported dead after finding her blue and not breathing in her home was actually alive. Police were called to check on Ruth Shillinglaw Johnson, 89, on Oct. 1.

According to a report, officers found her motionless on her bathroom floor, and one officer noted an odor "similar to a decomposition smell." But officers did not check for a pulse. Instead, they called Johnson's adult son and told him his mother was dead. The man said Johnson planned to donate her body to science.

A State Anatomy Board employee arriving to take the body three hours later heard Johnson take a deep breath and saw her move her arm. Johnson was rushed to a hospital. She was discharged Wednesday. Neighbors said she has been moved to a hospice. -end article

When you come upon someone and you THINK they're dead, wouldn't you check the pulse to rule out all uncertainties? Not these police officers. They made a conclusion based off of an assumption and not only declared she was dead but notified the son that she was dead. This is a very unprofessional move in my opinion.

I think these police officers should be fired. For the sake of the woman, luckily she still survived regardless of the police officer's ignorance. Perhaps she did not survive, and it was because not routinely checking the victim's pulse lead to her dead, would probably change the situation...but who would have known in the first place?

74 comments:

  1. damn :D how does that happen :))))

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  2. but why~

    what was wrong with her? i demand a follow up story

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  3. maybe she was a fattie and they couldn't feel her pulse under all the fat

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  4. yeah, you'd think...you know. CHECKING for proof of life would be an idea.

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  5. You would think the pulse is the first thing anyone would check. Crazy stuff.

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  6. Wow that's awful, surely that should be the first thing they do. Incredible.

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  7. 'fuck da police'... etc

    But it boggles my mind that they wouldn't check for a pulse or do something else to check if she was alive. Really unprofessional.

    Following.

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  8. Good thing she turned out to actually be alive after all.

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  9. If i was the son I would sue the precinct for emotional damages. MAKE BANK Y'ALL

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  10. I don't think they'd be fired over something like this but public humiliation is probably taking place as we speak.

    I can hear the other officers mocking them now. XD

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  11. Ridiculous they didn't even check... I'm pretty sure you have to do that no matter what, short of finding a decapitated body. Hope there's a follow-up, very curious as to what happened to her

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  12. Wow that's horrible! They should be more careful! Those cops were careless!

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  13. ha. But she was OLD?! I bet thats the rationale the cops will use during their disciplinary hearings.

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  14. they should have checked, but evidently, something about following simple procedure is too difficult for the cop mind

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  15. This is why in NJ, EMS is ALWAYS dispatched, even for an "apparent" DOA.

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  16. mother effin ZOMBIES!

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  17. Now there's some laziness on the part of pigs.

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  18. Isn't the first thing you do check for a pulse, way to almost let someone die and put stress on the family.

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  19. cant say that was miracle but i think for her son that was best gift he will ever get in his life
    to have mother again

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  20. those officers should be put on a seminar on how to do their job.

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  21. @Colin B
    Totally agree with you on that lol

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  22. Agree, the cops were lazy and not doing their job. And don't they need a coroner or some medically trained person to pronounce death unless obviously verified like missing a head or something.

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  23. At least they didn't bury her before she woke up!

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  24. They made the biggest mistake, assuming things. They should have checked the pulse and checked her breathing instead of assuming shes dead because of the smell. Also they found her in the bathroom, you would think they would have attributed the smell to that. nubs

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  25. Huh?? how could they do that. Sign, ironic that the police don't act like real police men.

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  26. hehhe dumbass pigs, what were they thinking!?

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  27. I agree, they should be fired. You shouldn't be able to get away with half assing your job when lives are involved.

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  28. Zombies, man. They're out there!

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  29. LOL! she won the fat prize of the lottery...

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  30. that is absolutely scary.... thats a serious flaw in your medical system

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  31. They must have left a scar...they shoukd be fired. At least those 2 will be a lot closer now.

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  32. She's a Xombie, watch out for your brains!!!

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  33. Scares me. They better make sure I'm freaking dead if some shit happens to me.

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  34. that is insane. o.O awesome blog, you got a new follower!

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  35. what was she doing outside of the kitchen in a first place :D :D

    but anyway.. pretty creepy thou :S

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  36. Amazing... really makes us wonder. ..

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  37. dude i'm back from amsterdam.

    come check out all the cool pictures i took!

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  38. If cryogenics improves in the next few years, perhaps we will be seeing much more of this

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  39. This used to happen a lot... decades ago. To be honest, I don't think they should be fired; the shame and embarrassment is punishment, enough. I can bet good money that they won't be making THAT mistake again. Having said all this, I think it's possible for anyone to screw this up, considering her age, the fact that she was so blue and didn't appear to be breathing.

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  40. I don't see the point in firing them. If anything they have learned and will be extremely diligent int he future.

    Yes, it's stupid as hell, but who gains anything by firing them?

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