AIBU to expect the shop to close ?

Why on earth wasn't an ambulance called for, never mind the Undertakers?

Did they think he would get up and walk away? Surely somone could have phoned the emergency services?

To clarify, the emergency services had been there for some time but sadly the man could not be saved. I believe they weren't allowed to move the body which I understand. What I don't understand is that the shop continued business as though all was ok when it certainly wasn't for this man and his no doubt grief stricken family

I expect they did phone the emergency services. But if the poor soul was already dead then maybe someone who could still be saved would have been given a higher priority.

I bet you were terribly upset though Izzywizzy.

Oh that's awful Izzywizzy . Maybe they weren't allowed to move his body. In which case I agree that the shop should have closed temporarily until the undertaker arrived.

I hope his family was called.

gillybob I was upset, I am upset. I'm not very good at dealing with death so I wonder whether I'm over reacting ?

I don't think you are over reacting at all Izzywizzy

I just don't think this is something you expect when you are out having a cuppa or doing a shop. Maybe the indignity you felt for the poor man has added to your upset.

Try and think happy thoughts.

I suppose none of us can really choose where and when the inevitable will happen.

I don't think a shop could clear everyone out without making a big hoohah I would imagine it was kept as discreet as possible and hopefully everyone got their shopping thought about the poor gent and left
I guess death effects everyone differently but from my personal point of view I would have felt sad for the gent but very practical knowing not everyone dies or gives birth in a perfect place You can be on a train that stops for someone on the line or in a car with a fatality ahead death it's not always neatly sleeping in bed Anyway a nice way for the chap to go quickly and with not much knowledge probably
Don't be upset Izzywhizzy he was looked after he wasn't alone and he was covered from view and it sounds as if it was fairly instantaneous better than some deaths for sure

I think they could perhaps have put a higher screen around him than a knee-high one. Supermarkets have these "wet floor" notices to close off an aisle, and big mesh trolleys that they collect recycling cardboard in - a few of them across the aisle would have screened him off.

It sounds like something that would upset most people izzy. Do something restorative this evening. (that probably excludes watching 3 girls - which I've found the most harrowing tv programme I ever saw)

Not sure about people dying ( though it probably happens) but a couple of years ago, while supermarket shopping, a well dressed man about 50 clutched his chest and fell to the floor near me.I rushed over to him and shouted at a nearby assistant to get somebody.I thought the staff were very slow off the mark in coming over and a bit leisurely considering it was a likely heart attack.Anyway, I left him with three of them, and a bit later an ambulance arrived and they took him away on a stretcher.I hoped he was alright, the girl on the till said 'it happens all the time'.
However, it does seem callous izzywizzy for supermarket life to just carry on around a deceased person.

I'm amazed that the ambulance crew would just leave the man's body in the supermarket to await removal by undertakers.

I thought death had to be pronounced by a doctor, not a paramedic. Very odd.

I was going to say the same as Ana - surely the ambulance crew should have removed him to the hospital for the death to be certified by a doctor?

He could not just be taken away by an undertaker; surely an unexpected death like this would require a post-mortem?

So sad to read about this, not sure what else could have been done. A quote from the bible popped into my head from my way back Sunday school days , which says ' in the midst of life we have death ' & as we have brilliant ambulance personnel & undertakers plus the staff doing their best in the shop I'm sure they would have treated this gentlemen with dignity & care. May be a small shop would have closed,but a bit more difficult perhaps for a supermarket . Hope you are ok Izzywizzy, you sound very compassionate, a very distressing situation to witness ,big hugs

Ps an ambulance cannot take a dead person away, as it has to be intensively cleaned if a person dies in ambulance, so if a person has already passed away it passes onto an undertaker.

So what about the post-mortem - does the undertaker take the deceased to the hospital mortuary?

I don't think you're over reacting. They could have stopped further customers coming in and those already inside could have finished their shop then be directed to an exit away from this poor man.

I have never heard of such a thing before - so the ambulance crew arrived and pronounced the man dead, then just left him on the supermarket floor...

bereavementadvice.org/topics/what-to-do-when-someone-dies/in-a-public-place

I think, even if they did not shut the store completely, they should have made a much better screen around the deceased and shut off that area of the shop including the cafe.

Sorry you were so upset Izzywizzy and it must have been upsetting for the staff too.

They just wouldn't do that - for a start they don't have the authority to pronounce death, or the cause of it.

I agree with BlueBelle, keep everything as discreet and low key as possible for the poor chap's dignity. I think the paramedics probably had other calls to deal with and this chap was beyond their help.
Brings home the fact of our own mortality.

Thanks for the link, Jalima, it appears I was wrong - still seems odd that there was such a long wait for the undertakers to arrive.