Guidelines for Verifying Death
These guidelines provide information for health practitioners and others about the process for verifying death after a person has died.
Pātiki and Waharua Kōpito patterns
About this item
- Issue date:
- 25 September 2024
- Status:
- Current
- Corporate Author:
- Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora,
- Type:
- Guidance,
- Topic:
- Death,
- Copyright status:
© Crown Copyright, Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- ISBN:
- 978-1-991139-07-8
Verification of death means the act of establishing that a person is dead and recording the time, place, and date of that assessment. Verification of death is established through clinical assessment for the absence of signs of life.
Medical practitioners, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, enrolled nurses, registered midwives, emergency medical technicians, registered paramedics, and some Police specialists are authorised by the Chief Coroner to verify death, including deaths which meet the criteria for reporting to the coroner.
In most cases, the health practitioner who verifies death and documents the assessment will be requested to do so by the Police because the death is a coronial case.
2024 revisions
Originally published in 2015, the latest revisions are minor and administrative in nature only. Information about verifying death in intensive care units in the context of organ donation has also been included.