Talk about a living nightmare. In Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, this summer, a driver picked up a body from Shadyside Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. As they made their way to their destination, a local funeral home, the driver noticed something very unusual: their passenger was actually alive.

As it turns out, this wasn’t even a case wherein the patient was declared and mysteriously revived. The driver just picked up the wrong person.

Wait, what? How?

At the time, the nursing home spokesperson essentially refused to answer questions posed by a local news outlet. Instead, it issued a statement basically saying it reached out to the Department of Health and notified the patient’s emergency contact. While the spokesperson mentioned “addressing internal steps,” they weren’t specific.

So, hold on here…

Who was responsible for confirming the room, the identity, and the medical status of the nursing home patient before allowing them to leave the facility? I mean, my goodness, people…

The driver likely transferred the poor person to a wheeled stretcher. What’s more, they might have even put the live human in a bag, or at least under a sheet.

In June, KDKA News interviewed a funeral home owner who wasn’t involved in this scenario.

“Whether it’s at a home or a facility, funeral directors count on the medical professionals to pronounce the person deceased prior to us being dispatched,” said Kirk Freyvogel, a co-owner of John A. Freyvogel Sons, Inc. He went on to explain that funeral home staff aren’t typically trained in procedures that determine whether someone is dead or alive.

I don’t know. It takes a village, as they say. In my mind, the driver should have done something more to determine they had the correct patient. Obviously, though, the facility was already very much formally responsible for the patient and clearly goofed up this one, big time.

Indeed, imagine if the funeral home staff received the person and began their procedures…it’s a chilling thought.

In any case, by allowing a driver to move out the wrong person, it’s clear the nursing home has some huge operational gaps, here. In June, the Pennsylvania Department of Health said it couldn’t say whether the business was under investigation. I hope the patient received proper care from then on, at least.

I guess I’ll just go ahead and add this driving scenario to the list of horrors my anxiety feeds on, like how this country will properly care for our elders as time passes.