“Advances in resuscitation science are beginning to challenge our understanding of what death really is,” says Sam Parnia. He's the director of cardiopulmonary resuscitation research at SUNY NY. Parnia says it's now possible to bring people back to life much longer after cardiac arrest than medicine had previously thought."
"We used to think, clearly, there's a black and white, you're dead or you're alive," Parnia says. "Now we know that there's this long and significant period after you die, in which you enter this gray zone where death can be reversed."
Listen in as Parnia explains the new techniques that make it possible revive people long after their hearts stop beating.
Want to learn more? Check out this video of a New York Academy of Sciences discussion of redefining death, including Parnia, emergency medicine expert Lance Becker, and neurosurgeon Stephan Mayer. You can also download an audio version of the panel discussion.