# Condemned inmate croaks right before execution. What to do. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 2, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183 "2014-04-02T17:33:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/1 "2014-04-02T17:33:06Z")
All appeals exhausted, Guv says K.M.A., strapped into the gurney, death warrant already read. Just moments before the plunger machine is set in motion, halfway into his final statement the condemned has a heart attack. Are there any protocols for this? Perform CPR, revive him and then kill him? Just let it go, nature beat us to it? What if after he’s revived he keeps having heart attacks. Medical staff says if he doesn’t have an emergency bypass he’ll be dead for good. Give him the bypass and then execute him? Seems pointless. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/2 "2014-04-02T17:37:00Z")
The protocol is to rejoice in the fact that the Grim Reaper is on the side of justice for a change. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/3 "2014-04-02T17:46:37Z")
My guess is that they would do everything they could to revive him if possible and nurse him back to health so that he then be executed in the future by the state… ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/4 "2014-04-02T17:50:50Z")
> [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](#): > > The protocol is to rejoice in the fact that the Grim Reaper is on the side of justice for a change. That would be the sensible thing to do. > [@dolphinboy](#): > > My guess is that they would do everything they could to revive him if possible and nurse him back to health so that he then be executed in the future by the state… This is far more likely! ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/5 "2014-04-02T17:52:43Z")
If the death penalty is to prevent further criminal acts by the condemned then there should be no acts taken to revive the prisoner just to kill them again. If the death penalty is to exact revenge, by the state, on the condemned to assuage the damage done by their criminal acts then yeah, you have to revive them to kill them. It does make me wonder what the policy is w.r.t Do Not Resuscitate and death row convicts. The state has a duty of care to people in prision which includes medical attention but you would think after the final appeal fails and the day grows near a DNR would be signed off on. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/6 "2014-04-02T18:12:30Z")
I don’t think having a heart attack on death row is a ‘get out of jail free card’ that would suddenly change a death sentence to life imprisonment. It would be cruel and inhumane to let someone who has just had a heart attack die a slow agonizing death just because they are on death row when they could possibly be revived and killed humanely later on. I really don’t see any other option. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/7 "2014-04-02T18:18:28Z")
Right up until the moment when they flip the switch, the governor could change his mind and make the phone call, or the detective could barge in with new evidence, or whatever. If an inmate has a heart attack before the time listed on the death warrant, the state will take all reasonable measures to save them, same as for any other person in their care. The real question would come if they’re still in the process of that lifesaving care at the moment listed on the warrant. I would guess that they would then proceed with the execution, according to schedule. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/8 "2014-04-02T18:18:38Z")
Cecil [touched on this](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/656/when-someone-is-executed-by-lethal-injection-do-they-swab-off-the-arm-first) in an article: > [@](#): > > Interviews with members of execution teams reveal that they place great stock in following proper procedures. We can be sure that if the prisoner were to choke on a chicken bone during his last meal, the authorities would spare no effort to save his life an hour before ending it. Indeed, if you can believe Chuck Shepherd’s News of the Weird column, that’s already happened. “In Texas convicted murderer David Lee Herman slashed his throat on April 1 [1997], a day before his execution, but was patched up and given his lethal injection one day late,” Shepherd writes. Nazi death camp guards observed no such niceties. We’re better, because we do. Now that was a day before the execution, not minutes, but it seems reasonable that the people whose job it is to keep prisoners alive would step in at any point until the execution procedure has actually begun. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/9 "2014-04-02T18:19:58Z")
I saw this question discussed in some news article or op-ed essay or something, some years ago. The answer was: Yes, they’d give him all the medical care it took to keep him alive, just so they could kill him. Of course, this was discussing a hypothetical case where, say, the guy had a heart attack or something the day before, or other terminal disease that threatened to beat the hangman to it. I don’t recall any mention of something like a severe heart attack just minutes before the scheduled execution. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/10 "2014-04-02T18:35:24Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > If the death penalty is to prevent further criminal acts by the condemned then there should be no acts taken to revive the prisoner just to kill them again. > > If the death penalty is to exact revenge, by the state, on the condemned to assuage the damage done by their criminal acts then yeah, you have to revive them to kill them. There’s a third idea, that the death penalty is to prevent similar criminal acts by others, in other words, to send a message that such acts will not be tolerated. Whether that message is effectively communicated is fodder for GD, so I won’t go into it; I’m just saying that there are other rationales besides the first two. (In fact, I could mention a fourth, but then we’ll be WAY off topic…) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/11 "2014-04-02T18:35:53Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > It does make me wonder what the policy is w.r.t Do Not Resuscitate and death row convicts. The state has a duty of care to people in prision which includes medical attention but you would think after the final appeal fails and the day grows near a DNR would be signed off on. Prisoners can sign DNR consent forms, even if they’re not on death row. I ran into a situation once where a nurse and I performed CPR on a prisoner who turned out to have a DNR. But I was okay because the DNR was part of his medical records and I was not medical staff - so I was okay because I wasn’t supposed to know he had a DNR and therefore was supposed to try and revive him. The nurse, on the other hand, got a write-up. He was supposed to have known the prisoner had a DNR, to have not performed CPR, and to have told me not to perform CPR. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/12 "2014-04-02T18:43:29Z")
I think the human factor would come into play, that though they should save him/her it may be more humane to ‘not do that so well’. There is the law and their is morality, they seldom coincide, but they are often reported observed traveling together. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/13 "2014-04-02T18:46:23Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > There’s a third idea, that the death penalty is to prevent similar criminal acts by others, in other words, to send a message that such acts will not be tolerated. Whether that message is effectively communicated is fodder for GD, so I won’t go into it; I’m just saying that there are other rationales besides the first two. (In fact, I could mention a fourth, but then we’ll be WAY off topic…) True. 🙂 Honestly I thought this OP was in GD when I replied. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/14 "2014-04-02T18:46:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The nurse, on the other hand, got a write-up. He was supposed to have known the prisoner had a DNR, to have not performed CPR, and to have told me not to perform CPR. What’s the protocol on that? Is the staff supposed to have the DNR status memorized for all prisoners? Or would they start CPR and call up to find the DNR status to know if they should continue? Or would they just stand there doing nothing until the answer came? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/15 "2014-04-02T18:50:13Z")
Depends on whether the inmate has a DNR (do not resuscitate) order on file. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/16 "2014-04-02T18:58:12Z")
But how far along does someone have to be before a DNR kicks in? Can they refuse to remove a chicken bone from his esophagus, or watch the prisoner bleed to death if he slits his wrists? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/17 "2014-04-02T23:52:13Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > What’s the protocol on that? Is the staff supposed to have the DNR status memorized for all prisoners? Or would they start CPR and call up to find the DNR status to know if they should continue? Or would they just stand there doing nothing until the answer came? Wasn’t really an issue in this case. The nurse had been treating the prisoner right before this and so he had just been reading that prisoner’s medical records. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/18 "2014-04-02T23:56:43Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > But how far along does someone have to be before a DNR kicks in? Can they refuse to remove a chicken bone from his esophagus, or watch the prisoner bleed to death if he slits his wrists? I am not a doctor or a lawyer. Or a doctor-lawyer (those guys make the big money). But my guess would be that type of treatment is allowed. DNR, after all, means “do not resuscitate” - if you’re treating somebody who’s still alive, you’re not resuscitating them. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/19 "2014-04-02T23:57:57Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Cecil [touched on this](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/656/when-someone-is-executed-by-lethal-injection-do-they-swab-off-the-arm-first) in an article: > > Now that was a day before the execution, not minutes, but it seems reasonable that the people whose job it is to keep prisoners alive would step in at any point until the execution procedure has actually begun. For me, the more telling point re: the OP is that his execution was a day late–they let him recuperate for an extra day so he’d be in better shape for his execution. Can’t be executing somebody on death’s door, after all. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183/20 "2014-04-02T23:59:21Z")
“Hello Governor, he’s dead again…” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condemned-inmate-croaks-right-before-execution-what-to-do/685183.md?page=2)