Home Security Monitoring

My 20 year old niece died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a fire. They did manage to resusitate her after 30 minutes or so, and she was being kept alive by the respirator. They did a three minute test the following day where they took her off the respirator, and she did not breath.

The medical staff said she was brain dead, but shortly after they resusetated her on the day of the fire, her dad came in to her hospital room, took her hand and spoke to her. She squeezed his hand (she had not had any responses up until that time) and her monitor started beeping. The doctors even came in and questioned what was going on that was causing the beeping. If she really was brain dead, why did that happen?

My question is, how many of you would have made the decision to take her off the respirator after she failed to breath during the three minute test? I want to hear from medical professionals out there who see these kinds of things. I feel my nieces’ mother made a rash decision to disconnect. She was encouraged by the hospital staff to go ahead and donate her organs. I feel she should have been allowed to stay on the respirator. She was only on it for two days.

I am having a hard time coping with the loss, but I need to know if there could have been a chance for my niece to live later down the line. I am sure other people have failed the three minute test off the respirator, and have recovered some time later.

Please don’t tell me it is inhumane to keep someone alive. She fought for her life in the basement trying to get out of the house. I feel we should have fought for her life a little more!

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