How is death determined medically?

As a medical professional, I can explain the process of determining death medically. There are two primary types of death that are recognized: brain death and circulatory death. Brain Death is diagnosed when a person exhibits a complete and irreversible loss of all functions of the entire brain, including the brainstem. This is determined by a series of clinical tests, which may include: 1. Coma assessment: Ensuring the patient shows no signs of responsiveness or consciousness. 2. Apnea test: The patient is taken off the ventilator and given no oxygen to breathe, and if there is no respiratory effort, this supports the diagnosis of brain death. 3. Neurological examination: No reflexes or responses to painful stimuli are observed. 4. Confirmatory tests: These may include electroencephalogram (EEG) showing no brain activity, cerebral blood flow studies showing no blood flow to the brain, or somatosensory evoked potential (SSEP) tests. Circulatory Death, also known as cardiac death, is determined when there is irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory function. This is confirmed by: 1. No pulse or blood pressure: The heart is not beating, and there is no measurable blood pressure. 2. No respiration: There is no spontaneous breathing. 3. No signs of life: No movement, no response to stimuli, and no reflexes. In both cases, the declaration of death is a legal and medical process that must be performed by a qualified medical professional. It is a serious and irreversible decision that requires a thorough and careful assessment.

Two categories of legal death are death determined by irreversible cessation of heartbeat and breathing (cardiopulmonary death), and death determined by irreversible cessation of functions of the brain (brain death). ... Such a person is said to be dead on arrival (DOA) or dead at the scene.