Mark Thorson wrote:

> I've read some interesting case reports on paralytic
> shellfish poisoning. In one case in Canada, a victim
> was so paralyzed that the emergency medical team was
> convinced he was dead, yet he was not only alive but
> fully conscious, and he remembers hearing the EMT crew
> talking about just how dead he was. In most cases
> that are that severe, you don't survive unless you're
> put on a respirator, and some people have survived PSP
> only because an alert rescuer put them on respirators
> when others might not have bothered to try.

I chemically paralyze patients all the time yet I would never mistake
them for being dead? (well, 'cept for the ones who actually are brain
dead, but that's another issue...) And yes, paralytics are not sedatives
in any way, shape or form so patients can be perfectly alert if not
*also* sedated. Isn't that a terrorizing thought? And ALL chemically
paralyzed patients *require* respiratory support. Yet the heart isn't
paralyzed so an emergency team shouldn't have missed that pulse?

I'm curious about this story or report you read. Do you have a citation?