• Question: at what moment are you dead?

    Asked by Sophie to Vicky, Scott, Jim, Gaia, Adrian on 10 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Scott Lawrie

      Scott Lawrie answered on 10 Mar 2016:

      That’s quite a tricky question – good on you for asking it! People used to think death happens when the heart stops beating. But we can do CPR or use a defibrillator to re-start the heart and keep people alive. Nowadays, we call ‘time of death’ when your brain stops generating electrical signals. Without the brain working, nothing else in your body can function.

    • Photo: Gaia Andreoletti

      Gaia Andreoletti answered on 10 Mar 2016:

      Hi Sophie,
      You are legally dead when: there is no more heartbeat, no brain activity and no breathing.

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