Is their a possibility that people can be accidently be burried or cremeted alive after apparent death?

Answer 1

No. A Doctor has to give you a certificate of death before you are taken to the morgue and it checks for any possibility at all you are still alive. Used to happen in the past often though with conditions that look like death.

Answer 2

There was a book, made into a movie, called The Sepent an the Rainbow which is about a 'zombie drug'. It was more from a cultural perspective than anything else. The drug itself was derived from a pufferfish and, when inhaled, would mimic death. Their breathing would slow until it was almost imperceptible, the heart rate would slow, etc. If i remember correctly (which i don't) brain function was still normal but no transmissions from the brain were being made to stimulate the muscles.

In haiti it was thought that you had died when you inhaled it and whoever gave it to you was now your master. People believed, and still believe, that they were risen from the grave to be servants of people. Many of them were buried alive.

PLus there is the existence of terms such as 'dead ringer'. which was a bell tied to the finger of a corpse on the chance it might wake up and need unburying. Not exactly common these days, though. Oh "graveyard shift' is another of those terms. That was when you pulled dutie in the graveyard waiting for a bell to ring.

Answer 3

Not today - the criteria for true death now is lack of electrical activity in the brain, as opposed to the old criteria of lack of heartbeat and respiration.

It used to happen fairly often though - which is why the Victorians used to mount bells on caskets - a string connected to the bell would lead inside through a small hole and be tied around the deceased's wrist. The theory being that if the deceased should wake and move, the bell would ring.

There are certain drugs and insect and reptile venoms which can mimic death and fool a cursory examination, but not a detailed one.

Answer 4

This used to be a big problem in victorian times when the difference between death and a deep coma could not always be determined. There have been a number of cases of people being buried alive that in some parts the bodies would be hit or stabbed as they were laid to rest in the grave just to make sure they were dead.

Answer 5

It's possible, there was a case which a woman from Boston woke up in the freezer in the morgue. Also, I heard a case from my villiage when I was young, in chinese tradition, children needs to stay with the deceased for a period of 7-8 days to show their respect and make sure the dead was really died. A woman did that when her mom died, but she heard mourning and scratching at night, she had to unseal the coffin to get her mom out of there.
In another day, she would have been burried alive.
There were other odd events happened, in our tradition, we dig up the dead after been burried for 10 years, to clean their bones. They dug up a body in the villiage, it seem as if it was alive, hair was grown to the waist, the nail was long and winding. Pretty scary !

Answer 6

Shouldn't think so, not any more - providing you aren't a star target of some gruesome conspiracy.

Still... As I wouldn't want to be burnt alive, I'm tempted to request that my mobile lies right next to me in my grave.

But then, I'll need an oxygen bottle, too, and an extra blanket or two... Or better still: thermal underwear, so I don't DIE from hypothermia.

Night-vision goggles would be a bonus, plus a torch and a comic book so I don't DIE from boredom whilst waiting for my rescue.
And, in case the rescuers turn out to be firemen, I would definitely need some lipstick, too.

See, you made me all thoughtful there.. for a minute... yikes.

Answer 7

I’ve heard of such things happening. Fortunately, not in the US and not within the last couple generations. Medicine is getting better at detecting vital signs. I recall reading that this happened in India a couple years ago, where a person was discovered alive by their spouse who came to mourn at the grave days later. Maybe also in other third world countries, eh?

However, given the widespread use of organ donation and autopsies, both of which involve major surgery on the refrigerated body, it becomes increasingly remote that anybody would be buried or cremated (note spelling, please!) alive.

23 JAN 07, 2301 hrs, GMT.

Answer 8

Yes and it's happened. Way back when, they used to post a bell over a grave with a string stretching down to the coffin. That way, in case there was a false-death, the person could ring the bell! This was long before proper science could declare someone dead.

Answer 9

Possibly.

Answer 10

Have you been reading stephen king? I would ike to say absolutely not we are so advanced that the type of thing you describe just would and could not happen - however human beings being human beings and prone to carelessness and arrogance - anything is possible even today in our totally advanced culture but...........................the possibility is probably very very very improbable. However there have been reports of graves being dug up ( 100) year old graves and the corpses mouths were chewed off because they were burried alive.................................................