It’s likely that it was kicked under the bed by accident. Cardiac arrests are one of the most stressful calls a paramedic can run. The fact that it was bagged up at all means that were trying to keep the scene neat as they worked.
But once they terminated resuscitation efforts the call switches to documentation, paperwork, medical examiner notifications, dealing with an upset family who may have trouble processing or accepting the death. They probably just lost track of it at that point.
If you don’t feel comfortable touching it, there are cleanup services that will remove it. My agency doesn’t have a special way of disposing it, it just goes in the regular trash (except for sharps or course, but I don’t see any in your picture, and I hope they wouldn’t leave those around).
It’s likely that it was kicked under the bed by accident. Cardiac arrests are one of the most stressful calls a paramedic can run. The fact that it was bagged up at all means that were trying to keep the scene neat as they worked.
But once they terminated resuscitation efforts the call switches to documentation, paperwork, medical examiner notifications, dealing with an upset family who may have trouble processing or accepting the death. They probably just lost track of it at that point.
If you don’t feel comfortable touching it, there are cleanup services that will remove it. My agency doesn’t have a special way of disposing it, it just goes in the regular trash (except for sharps or course, but I don’t see any in your picture, and I hope they wouldn’t leave those around).