Elderly person died in ambulance whilst on ventilator

[OldLace]

My exFIL has died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.

He was in his late 80's & had been on oxygen at home for some years so not unexpected. He simply stopped breathing in his armchair.

exH is in a bit of a funk and a long way away and exMIL also in funk.

Will there be a coronor / delay to the funeral does anyone know?

no reason to suspect C-19 but will exFIL be tested for that now?

Sorry to hear this. A death is never easy even when its expected.
There are specific circumstances when a death must be reported to the coroner but that doesn't always cause a delay. In my experience the coroner or coroner's officer will talk to the family if the death has to be reported. We found them quite good at keeping us informed.
www.gov.uk/after-a-death/when-a-death-is-reported-to-a-coroner

thank you @MrsAvocet

Tis slightly weird in a way as he is my Ex but he is upset and I am trying to be a friend re this. He wanted to know what would happen but I had no idea what was standard and what might be affected by current circs.

There may be a post mortem which can delay things - do you know when he last saw his GP? Years ago my grandad died of pneumonia in hospital and there was a post mortem. He'd had emphysema for years too.

@wowfudge
Not sure when he last saw GP no, but I do know he had nurses in every other day to help with his care needs re oxygen etc

Hopefully it'll be clear what the cause of death was then. My dad was upset about the post mortem - grandad was in his 80s.

Sorry for your loss.

My Nan died of pneumonia in hospital following a fall. They wanted to do a post mortem to decide whether to put “pneumonia” or “pneumonia resulting from a fall” as cause of death. They called my mum to discuss and agreed not to do it. No idea if this is standard though (consulting with family member).

My DM's death was reported to coroner and there was an inquest to establish the exact reason. There was no post mortem, and funeral was not delayed. The only delay was the issuing of the death certificate.
Sorry for your loss and upset.
Sounds like he died in the chair, rather than the ambo?
If he had been seen by GP recently, there might not be need for inquest etc.

Alot will depend on what care path he was on at home - if it was palliative then its unlikely there will be a pm - My Mum died at home and about a week before we had an indepth discussion iwth the Drs and talked about what would happen and that we and she wanted to die at home. As a result of that conversation they moved her onto palliative care - this entailed different sorts of carers coming in, some seperate boxes of painkillers and morphine being stored at home in locked boxes the healthworkers had keys to, and a few other things. In the end she passed peacefully with no pain killers necessary and liturally drifted from this world. No PM was necessary they knew what killed her - Vascula dementia preceded by a stroke that finally took all movement and muscle control from her including tongue movement and swallow. Difficult to be part of but you do what you have to do. If he just stopped breathing, they may want a PM if they feel he should have been resucitated, but if there was a dnr in place its unlikely. Speak to the Drs or District nurses as they are very familiar with what happens etc

Death certification has changed since Covid-19. A doctor can issue a death certificate without having seen a patient if they have been seen by any clinician in the past 28 days and they are reasonably sure of the cause of death. In fact as I understand it under the coronavirus act, if a patient has not been seen in 28 days, a death certificate can still be issued but a discussion may need to be had by the coroner. The legislature was changed to help deal with the excess of deaths due to the Covid pandemic.

If your ex FIL was known to his GP, elderly and on long term oxygen for his health problems, I should think it highly unlikely that a coroner referral or postmortem would be required, provided everyone was satisfied there were no suspicious circumstances, and therefore no delay in the funeral. I don't think testing for Covid is done after a person has died. Sometimes it has been recorded on death certificates even if a test has not been performed if a death seems very likely to have been due to Covid.

Sorry for your loss.

thank you everyone for your help x