What you describe above is typical of what we do in the event of a death at home; of course it is - every member of the family is a patient as well. (Please see my comment on Tom's posting of 15th Nov - "The Right Choice".) However, what we are SUPPOSED to do is rather different. Driven by the current government obsession with targets and response times within the NHS, our primary aim should actually be to get ourselves and our vehicle back on the road as soon as possible. Thus, as soon as we are certain that to continue attempting resuscitation is futile, we are supposed to tidy up swiftly, break the news to the family, and leave - contacting our Despatch Centre to call for a doctor (to certify) and the police (in cases where the law so requires.) The point was driven home to us in writing a couple of years ago, and we were even given a supporting paperwork kit, which included things like a letter to the bereaved. The underlying thinking was efficient and impeccable, and I certainly certainly could not fault our management for trying to get us away from a death as quickly as possible; they would be failing in their duty if they did otherwise. However, the desire to flagellate us with response times is the Scottish Executive's, not our management's. The letter, as it happens, is very nice, and very well written; however, I don't think that it gets used much. In fact, I can't even find a copy to quote from. We still actually handle deaths at home as we always have - our duty of care extends well beyond the deceased, and compassion goes with the territory. I don't think that anyone in any ambulance service would dispute the assertion that the bean counters' response targets can go to hell when they compete with a need for sympathy, supportiveness, and simple humanity.