“She was gasping for air”: Iowa funeral home fined after woman presumed dead wakes up in body bag

A 66-year-old Iowa woman who was pronounced dead and transported to a funeral home was found to be alive when staff at the home opened the bag. According to a report by the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, the "funeral home staff unzipped the bag and observed Resident #1's chest was moving, and she was gasping for air."

The Oaks Alzheimer's Special Care Center in Des Moines has reportedly been charged a $10,000 penalty after three staff members were unable to determine whether the unidentified woman was still alive, resulting in her being transported to the Ankeny Funeral Home in a body bag.

The incident occurred on January 3, 2023, after a staff member at the hospital struggled to find the woman’s pulse. She was mistakenly declared dead about 90 minutes later.

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Iowa woman spent about 40 minutes in a body bag

A report from the Health Facilities Division of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals says that a hospital staffer, who was nearing the end of her 12-hour shift, informed a nurse practitioner about being unable to find a pulse for the 66-year-old woman.

The patient was pronounced dead at around 6:30 am. Both the staffer and the nurse told authorities that they did not see any signs of life at the time.

A funeral home staffer and a second nurse practitioner put the woman in a body bag and drove her to the Ankeny Funeral Home & Crematory, where workers found her to be alive at approximately 8:26 a.m.

The report from the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals reads:

"The Funeral Director left with Resident #1 at approximately 7:48 a.m."

Upon discovering that the patient was alive, the funeral home dialed 911, and she was rushed to a local hospital, where she was found breathing but unresponsive. She was returned to the hospice and died two days later, surrounded by her family.

In a statement to PEOPLE, the facility's executive director, Lisa Eastman, said that they have been in close contact with the resident's family. She also mentioned,

"We just completed an investigation by the Department of Inspections and Appeals regarding the matter."

The patient, who suffered from early-onset dementia, anxiety, and depression, had only been in hospice care for six days.

According to the report, in the days preceding the incident, the woman exhibited mottled skin, had "diminished" lung sounds, and was suffering small seizures.

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Ankeny Police department is not pursuing criminal charges

Although the state decided that the care facility "failed to provide adequate direction to ensure appropriate care and services were provided" prior to the woman's death, the Ankeny police are not pressing criminal charges.

The DIA has cited the facility for two state violations, which could end in a $10,000 penalty.

This penalty is not the Glen Oaks center's first. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, the firm was fined $500 last February for failing to do statutory background checks on workers after it was detected that five employees had not received the necessary training to work in the center.