# Where do people die? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 22, 2006, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591 "2006-07-22T11:32:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/21 "2006-07-23T13:25:56Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > …so basically, I doubt it’s true that “no one has died on an airplane on flight”. But that contradicts **Chappachula** ’s expert source: A drunk former flight attendant! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/22 "2006-07-23T13:43:59Z")
I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/23 "2006-07-23T15:40:56Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I’ve been on maybe five or six flights where they called for a doctor’s assistance. No one died due to, or in spite of, whatever care I provided. But if they had, I could presumably have declared them dead. But here’s another question–can you practice medicine (or declare someone dead) in a state where you aren’t licensed? In mid-air, what state are you in? Suppose you got drunk from the free liquor in first class , and then decided to operate on a passenger: Which state’s board of medicine would have authority to ,say, revoke your license for malpractice? (ooohhh…-get drunk and operate on somebody with a scalpel…—I just love to fantasize about what goes on behind that curtain in first class…) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/24 "2006-07-23T15:59:24Z")
I know where _I_ plan to die; at the base of the Parliament Hill bell tower, having just fallen there riddled with bullets fired by 150 federal agents, wearing a pink foam cowboy hat and nothing else but smeared wth chocolate syrup, .45 pistols in both hands, all the while on a live CNN feed. If I’m gonna go, I’m going to go out big. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/25 "2006-07-23T16:46:03Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I have likewise been told that nobody dies at a Disney theme park - you can blow your head off in front of Cinderella’s Castle, but you’re not “dead” until you leave the park. [Not true.](http://www.snopes.com/disney/parks/declare.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/26 "2006-07-23T23:33:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I know where _I_ plan to die; at the base of the Parliament Hill bell tower, having just fallen there riddled with bullets fired by 150 federal agents, wearing a pink foam cowboy hat and nothing else but smeared wth chocolate syrup, .45 pistols in both hands, all the while on a live CNN feed. > > If I’m gonna go, I’m going to go out big. That is AWESOME. When I’ve dealt with something over Canadian airspace, it’s never been an issue. The flight attend might ask for ID, and I gather the pilot gives the doctor permission to look at the patient and access to the meagre but useful stock of on-board medicines. I reduced a dislocated shoulder using a Tylenol #2, an Ativan tablet, a shot of vodka and the aircraft crew chair with the seatbelt restraining one unlucky fellow. Over international waters, the pilot might make the decision to stop at the closest airport to unload or assess the patient. The flight attendant contacts some on the ground medical person who runs things if no doctor is on board. When I’ve talked to the base physician, he has generally let me do my thing. On one occasion, we landed at the designated stoping point (Honolulu to break up a Toronto-Sydney flight) for an ECG, but “I” (with the base physician and the pilot) let the passenger back on the plane after seeing it looked okay. If someone was near death, I gather they’d try to stop at the nearest airport. If someone was obviously dead, I do not know. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/27 "2006-07-23T23:41:22Z")
Should have stoped while I was ahead. I rarely fly first class or drink much booze while flying (it interferes with my strategy of trying to sleep through the flight, at least for shorter trips). If I’d drank a lot, I hope I wouldn’t volunteer to help out. In Canada, helping out is covered to some degree under “Good Samaritan” laws. There might be legal problems in NOT helping out (but probably not). When I see someone in trouble, legal issues aren’t usually the first thing I think about. No one would fault you for doing the ABCs, applying oxygen, calling for help, basic things. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/28 "2006-07-23T23:52:25Z")
I knew a lady who came from Duluth. She got bit by a dog with a rabid tooth. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/29 "2006-07-24T05:16:35Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > It varies widely depending on what state you live in, but nationally, in 2001, 49.5% of deaths occurred in a hospital, 23.2% occurred at a nursing home, and 23.4% occured at home. > > [Facts on Dying 2004 - USA and State Statistics - Brown University Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research](http://www.chcr.brown.edu/dying/usastatistics.htm) This stats are explicitly for people whose death was caused by a **chronic illness**. This would explain why traffic accidents are not represented. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/30 "2006-07-24T06:58:21Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Don’t know if they would sign any forms though. Just check, and inform the flight crew that yes, this person is truly dead. (And why would they make an emergency landing at the nearest airport? Why bother, the person is dead. Fine, but _you_ have to sit next to him for the rest of the flight, 'cuz frankly, it would make me uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/31 "2006-07-24T07:07:20Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > Doesn’t the word “hospital” mean “the place where you go to die?” (Coming from the same root word as “hospice”.) Not sure if you’re joking or not, but no. “Hospital” and “hospice” are related to “hospitality” and further to “host”. All of these are derived from Latin “hostis” (which is also related to “hostile”, which may explain some of these parties I’ve been to). Other words in this family are “hotel”, “hostel”, and “guest”. ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/32 "2006-07-24T08:39:07Z")
An airline stewardess told me that SOP with a death was to wrap them up and stick an oxygen mask on them - and tell people the person is feeling ill. ---
**Author:** ![Feces\_Of\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8797f3/32.png) [@Feces\_Of\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feces_Of_Death)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/33 "2006-07-24T08:51:24Z")
What to do with the body? Stick it in the overhead bin? Hey anybody remember the movie Commando where Arnold kills the guy on the plane and makes him look like he is sleeping, and tells the stewardess not to bother him because he is “dead tired”? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/34 "2006-07-24T08:59:02Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > a little piece of macbre trivia I once heard : > Nobody has ever died on an airplane in flight. The reason: you aren’t dead until a licensed doctor says so, and signs a form for the local authorities. So heart attack victims are taken off the plane after an emergency landing at the nearest airport, and location of death is listed as the local hospital. This statement is rather silly. Most plane crashes result in multiple fatalities. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/35 "2006-07-24T09:03:30Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I reduced a dislocated shoulder… Nasty turbulance, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/36 "2006-07-24T09:53:19Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > This statement is rather silly. Most plane crashes result in multiple fatalities. Except the plane is not in flight by the time it hits the ground…! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/37 "2006-07-24T12:57:49Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Fine, but _you_ have to sit next to him for the rest of the flight, 'cuz frankly, it would make me uncomfortable. Read some Pit threads about people trapped next to noisy, grabby, obnoxious fellow travellers and you might _welcome_ it. Unless the flight is long enough for him to start to smell, but to read the Pit threads, even that might not be unusual. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/38 "2006-07-24T15:58:19Z")
> [@Bambi Hassenpfeffer](#): > > Not sure if you’re joking or not, but no. “Hospital” and “hospice” are related to “hospitality” and further to “host”. All of these are derived from Latin “hostis” (which is also related to “hostile”, which may explain some of these parties I’ve been to). Other words in this family are “hotel”, “hostel”, and “guest”. No, I wasn’t joking. I was thinking back to hospitals in the late medieval times which basically were just places where incurable cases were sent. That’s why I thought the word might have been related to “hospice.” ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/39 "2006-07-24T16:43:15Z")
> [@gabriela](#): > > You never worked in DC. Idiots there had a law that the only people who could declare death were doctors. Later amended to include hospice nurses. Later amended to include physician’s assistants working as death investigators to the medical examiner’s office. . Thats freaky, paramedics here have been calling calling them dead for at least 20-25 years with base hospital contact. Even an EMT-1 was allowed to call it for obvious signs (the usual list, decay, decapitation, lividity, rigormortis, burned beyond medium well, etc) ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591/40 "2006-07-24T16:45:21Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > Nasty turbulance, huh? I was gonna vote for got drunk and fell. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-die/365591.md?page=1)