# How long can a person survive in a morgue fridge?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 5, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681 "2013-07-05T01:54:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@jessiwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jessiwan)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/1 "2013-07-05T01:54:23Z")
The average temperature inside a morgue fridge is 2 to 4 degree celsius. Thanks.
Assuming average body size and weight.
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### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2013, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/2 "2013-07-05T01:57:35Z")
No insulation or bedding, just clothes and a thin sheet?
On a refrigerated steel table in a tiny box?
It’s going to depend on a million factors- person’s age, weight, size, gender all will play a role.
But I’m going to guess ‘some hours’, possibly overnight with some luck. It’s not much different than being outside in cold, really.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/3 "2013-07-05T02:17:20Z")
Is this a trick question? Generally 0 days, 0 minutes but there have been some notable exceptions. Is this about a healthy person being locked inside one? A few people, even young babies have lived through it even after many hours.
[http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/12/can-cooling-explain-why-miracle-baby-survived/](http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/12/can-cooling-explain-why-miracle-baby-survived/)
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### Author:  [@jessiwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jessiwan)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/4 "2013-07-05T02:17:41Z")
Well, assuming he/she is in hospital gown/regular clothes, 60 years old, and on a refrigerated steel slab like one of these:
[https://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=559&q=morgue+fridge&oq=morgue+fridge&gs\_l=img.3..0j0i24l4.5046.8495.0.8681.13.13.0.0.0.0.1082.3976.3j1j3j6-1j2.10.0...0.0.0..1ac.1.17.img.0259xDbvXxk#facrc=\_&imgdii=\_&imgrc=MJZ5Le\_Zw2NkAM%3A%3B3xPtWXzX--a0eM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fs-ak.buzzfed.com%252Fstatic%252Fenhanced%252Fterminal01%252F2011%252F7%252F26%252F18%252Fenhanced-buzz-14287-1311718326-49.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.buzzfeed.com%252Fgavon%252Fman-wakes-up-in-morgue-fridge-after-being-declared%3B600%3B450](https://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=559&q=morgue+fridge&oq=morgue+fridge&gs_l=img.3..0j0i24l4.5046.8495.0.8681.13.13.0.0.0.0.1082.3976.3j1j3j6-1j2.10.0...0.0.0..1ac.1.17.img.0259xDbvXxk#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=MJZ5Le_Zw2NkAM%3A%3B3xPtWXzX--a0eM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fs-ak.buzzfed.com%252Fstatic%252Fenhanced%252Fterminal01%252F2011%252F7%252F26%252F18%252Fenhanced-buzz-14287-1311718326-49.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.buzzfeed.com%252Fgavon%252Fman-wakes-up-in-morgue-fridge-after-being-declared%3B600%3B450)
I guess you can say a large portion of the body is in direct contact with the source of coldness. Assuming he/she is of average weight. So, how long till death sets in?
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### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/5 "2013-07-05T02:23:10Z")
You can die from hypothermia quite quickly.
Not minutes in this case, but some hours.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/6 "2013-07-05T02:25:11Z")
There is a case of a 60 year old man referenced in the news article I gave above waking up in the morgue after 21 hours. That is probably close to the upper limit. Almost every hypothetical case is going to follow the standard hypothermia mortality charts except anyone that would be locked into one by mistake would already be seriously compromised so it would tend to be lower than the average. Really cold temperatures can have some strange and poorly understood suspended animation properties on the human body however so you might find a very rare case that lasts much longer under perfect conditions.
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/7 "2013-07-05T02:25:19Z")
Indefinite, 4 degrees C is not that cold. A dry body in clothing will be able to generate enough heat to prevent hypothermia for at least 12 hours in that temperature.
Here is a report of an 80 year old surviving 21 hours in a morgue fridge.
> **[Man Wakes Up In Morgue Fridge After Being Declared Dead](https://www.buzzfeed.com/gavon/man-wakes-up-in-morgue-fridge-after-being-declared)**
>
> Well, this is absolutely horrifying. Imagine being a worker in a morgue when a corpse comes back to life. That's when all your training for the zombie apocalypse goes out the window and you simply start screaming like a tiny child.
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/8 "2013-07-05T02:26:10Z")
Need answer fast.
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### Author:  [@jessiwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jessiwan)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/9 "2013-07-05T03:02:55Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> Indefinite, 4 degrees C is not that cold. A dry body in clothing will be able to generate enough heat to prevent hypothermia for at least 12 hours in that temperature.
Thanks for responding (and to all the people above too). but I read on this website [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/oax/safety/frostbite.php](http://www.crh.noaa.gov/oax/safety/frostbite.php)
that when a person is not adequately clothed, even a temperature of 60 degrees F can trigger hypothermia…so who should I believe?
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### Author:  [@jessiwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jessiwan)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/10 "2013-07-05T04:12:11Z")
Also, I read that steel conducts heat away faster than water. Surely this contributes too?
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### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2013, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/11 "2013-07-05T04:24:53Z")
I studied first aid as a Boy Scout, later in the Army, then again when I got into mountaineering.
As **coremelt** says, a (healthy) dry body in clothing probably could live quite a while.
But there are a lot of variables. A less healthy person, in a sweaty panic, might go fast.
Are you planning a prank, and wondering about safety?
I think 15-30 minutes would be scary enough without being overly dangerous.
ETA: that’s not advice that you should do it!
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2013, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/12 "2013-07-05T05:54:40Z")
I vote you should believe a guy whose name is **coremelt**.
Guy wakes up, dies of hypothermia. What a burn.
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2013, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/13 "2013-07-05T06:00:59Z")
OP, I see so far you have only two posts on SD: this and one on how long it would take to feel anything and eventually die if you were in a crematory oven.
It shows good focus. Welcome to SD. I think you’ll fit right in.
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### Author:  [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/14 "2013-07-07T20:28:17Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#):
>
> OP, I see so far you have only two posts on SD: this and one on how long it would take to feel anything and eventually die if you were in a crematory oven.
>
> It shows good focus. Welcome to SD. I think you’ll fit right in.
I miss **gabriela**.
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### Author:  [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/15 "2013-07-07T20:54:11Z")
Aren’t the individual ‘bunks’ in a morgue fridge somewhat airtight? (Uh … to limit the unpleasant smells circulating in the morgue.)
So wouldn’t the restricted oxygen/excessive CO2 be a more immediate concern in a closed drawer than the eventual cold?
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### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/16 "2013-07-07T21:09:02Z")
There’s a good bit of air in a box that size.
If you stayed calm and didn’t use up all the oxygen in a panic, you’d be ok long enough to get chilled.
Then it’s a race between factors to see which does you in.
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### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/17 "2013-07-07T22:57:40Z")
> [@jessiwan](#):
>
> Also, I read that steel conducts heat away faster than water. Surely this contributes too?
Not as much as you might think. The people from the Titanic were immersed in cold water that was constantly being replaced by new cold water. A “slab” is made of thin stainless steel that a warm body can bring to its own temperature in a couple minutes. The air is constantly cooled and recirculated, but air is lousy at transferring heat and is probably not aimed specifically at the underside of the slab because its job is to keep a bunch of bodies cool, not cool a specific spot on one body that refuses to cool down. Put a bunch of live ones in there and the cooling system might break down from overwork.
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-a-person-survive-in-a-morgue-fridge/662681/18 "2013-07-08T01:58:48Z")
> [@kushiel](#):
>
> I miss **gabriela**.
Whatever happened to her? Not only did she actually know all the gory stuff, she actually thought it was fun to talk about.