Elderly Woman Taken to Morgue by Mistake

AP via Taphophilia ^ | April 13, 2006

[robowombat]

Elderly Woman Taken to Morgue by Mistake April 13 @ 18:30:52 CDT

VANCOUVER, B.C. – An elderly woman in a deep slumber was mistakenly sent to the morgue over the weekend after body collectors confused her with her deceased roommate.

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Health authorities say a driver that transports the dead failed to check the woman's identification bracelets and ended up taking the 87-year-old to a morgue across the street from her extended care facility.

The mix-up was only discovered when workers at the Surrey Memorial morgue noticed some movement on the stretcher where the woman lay sleeping.

Helen Carkner, a spokesperson for the Fraser Health Authority, says the woman's family is just pleased the error was uncovered, before she realized what was going on.

"They spoke to our Surrey health leadership and to people at Shirley Dean Pavilion (the extended care facility) and they were very understanding that a mistake had been made and appropriate action taken."

Carkner says staff at the care facility also noticed that the woman was missing and promptly alerted security at the hospital to have her returned.

She says the driver who transported the woman was relatively new to the job but has been fired by Vancouver First Call Service.

[cripplecreek]

I'm not dead yet.

You soon will be.

[tioga]

-poor thing.

[martin_fierro]

Obligatory graphic.

[cyborg]

I hope they fired the residence staff that let this happen too. Drivers just don't walk into a residence and take patients.

[SIDENET]

She says the driver who transported the woman was relatively new to the job but has been fired by Vancouver First Call Service.

Hey, sometimes you just have bad days...like when you take a living person to the morgue.

[DawnMarie]

The mix-up was only discovered when workers at the Surrey Memorial morgue noticed some movement on the stretcher where the woman lay sleeping. *shiver*

[Jaysun]

Helen Carkner, a spokesperson for the Fraser Health Authority, says the woman's family is just pleased the error was uncovered, before she realized what was going on.

No sh*t! A person of nearly 90 years would probably die from shock if they knew they were in the morgue, considered dead. Most people would assume themselves already dead and simply there in spirit. What a nightmare.

[NonValueAdded]

"We're here for your liver"

[TheSpottedOwl]

Thank God they got her back to bed before she woke. This is why they had "wakes" back in the day. You would think we wouldn't need them in this modern era : (