Driver transporting body to Pittsburgh funeral home finds the person still alive

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A driver learned the person they were transporting to the funeral home was not dead.

The driver picked up the wrong person at Shadyside Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Pittsburgh's Shadyside neighborhood. While en route to the funeral home, the driver realized the person was alive.

"You would hate that to be you're relative and you're going to have questions about your loved one and their safety with a situation like this," one person said. "How do you mess up something like that?"

That's the question on everyone's minds, and one the spokesperson for the center won't answer, along with many others.

Instead, in a statement, it said in part, "Once we became aware, we contacted the Department of Health and family emergency contact, and also took necessary steps internally to address."

KDKA-TV sat down with Kirk Freyvogel, part owner of a funeral home not involved in this case, for insight into the role everyone plays.

"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 Freyvogel of John A. Freyvogel Sons, Inc. "We are not trained in the medical procedures of checking to see if someone is deceased or alive."

The state said it does not regulate the transport process.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health said it can't comment on whether the center in under investigation.