Clinical Death

a body state in which the external signs of life (cardiac activity, respiration, functions of the central nervous system) are absent but the metabolic processes in the tissues are maintained.

Clinical death may last for five or six minutes after the cessation of heartbeat and respiration (death from blood loss). Sudden cessation of blood flow (for example, with fibrillation of the cardiac ventricles) prolongs this period to eight or ten minutes, after which the complete restoration of the vital functions is no longer possible.