Let dead man stay at home for three days – VG

On Saturday 10 October, the police and ambulance moved out after a man in his 80s was found dead in his apartment at Sinsen in Oslo.

It was a neighbor who notified the emergency services about the deceased.

According to standard procedures, the deceased man was to be picked up the same day. It did not happen. On Monday, a family member became aware that the deceased was still not in the death register. Thus, the error was detected.

Now the head of the Emergency Room, Jon Ørstavik, confirms that the deceased man was not picked up until three days had passed.

– There has probably been a misunderstanding between the players here, which is very unfortunate. It is a known fact that it is often in the handover between several services and stages that this can happen.

Possible failure between the agencies

In all cases where deaths are reported, both the police and the ambulance move out, Ørstavik says. If there is no suspicion of anything criminal, the Emergency Medical Communication Center (AMK) contacts the emergency room for further follow-up.

– It is common for a doctor to come and confirm the death on the same day, so that the deceased can be transported on to the chapel, Ørstavik points out.

He can not yet say where the communication has failed this time.

– The failure has occurred somewhere between the police, emergency room and AMK.

Oslo police district confirms to VG that they moved out on Saturday. As there was no reason to suspect anything criminal, the case was closed already then by the police.

Unknown phenomenon

Patient and user ombudsman in Oslo and Akershus, Anne-Liste Kristensen, believes the case does not resemble anything she has heard of before.

– It is a sad and bad miss, and it is always unfortunate with communication failure. It must be ensured that this is cleaned up, Kristensen points out.

Ørstavik says that they are now working to unravel what has happened, and that they are trying to find out if it is a personal mistake or a routine failure.

– As Oslo University Hospital runs the ambulance service and Oslo Municipality runs the emergency room, we must work together to find the cause when errors and misunderstandings occur.

– Sorry case

The leader of AMK, Egil Johannesen, confirms that he knows about the case and that the ambulance was with the deceased on Saturday. He further confirms that it is AMK who will then contact the emergency room and that it was also done here, but that in this case it is unclear what was communicated and how the emergency room has perceived this.

– It is the dialogue with the emergency room that we have to look a little closer at. We have to talk to those who were involved and see that everyone has followed the routines, says Johannesen.

The AMK leader is not aware that there have been any similar cases before. In collaboration with the Emergency Room, they will now investigate where the communication failure has occurred.

– It is of course a very unfortunate case. That’s not going to happen.

CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this case, Jon Ørstavik was referred to as Jan Ørstavik. This was changed on 14.10.2020 at 22.39.