Sudden death and the theatre nurse

Sudden death, by definition, is a death that is unexpected and for which the people concerned are unprepared. In one sense, all deaths are sudden, after all it takes only a few seconds to stop breathing. But many deaths are expected such as when a person has been ill for a long time or is very old and infirm, or has a known terminal condition. Should a normally healthy person die unexpectedly in the operating theatre during routine surgery or as a result of trauma then this may be described as 'Sudden Death'.