Which were the legal measures included in the first stage of death

We often think of the moment of death as that time at which the heartbeat and breathing stop. We are learning, however, that death isn't instant. Our brains are now thought to continue to "work" for 10 minutes or so after we die, meaning that our brains may, in some way, be aware of our death. The research, however, is only very preliminary.1  

In the hospital setting, there are a few requirements doctors use to define death. These include the absence of a pulse, the absence of breathing, the absence of reflexes, and the absence of pupillary constriction in response to a bright light. In an emergency setting, paramedics look for the five signs of irreversible death to determine when resuscitation not possible.

The definition of brain death includes the absence of brainstem reflexes, the inability to breathe without a ventilator, and neurologic unresponsiveness. The diagnosis is used to declare a legal death, such as before an organ donation.2  

After death is confirmed, the timeline of physical processes is as follows.

At Hour 1

At the moment of death, all of the muscles in the body relax, a state called primary flaccidity.3  Eyelids lose their tension, the pupils dilate, the jaw might fall open, and the body's joints and limbs are flexible.

With the loss of tension in the muscles, the skin will sag, which can cause prominent joints and bones in the body, such as the jaw or hips, to become pronounced. As muscles relax, sphincter tone diminishes, and urine and feces will pass.

Within minutes of the heart stopping, a process called pallor mortis causes the usually pinkish tone of a Caucasian person to grow pale4  as blood drains from the smaller veins in the skin.

The human heart beats more than 2.5 billion times during the average human lifespan, circulating about 5.6 liters (6 quarts) of blood through the circulatory system.

At the same time, the body begins to cool from its normal temperature of 37 C (98.6 F) until reaching the ambient temperature around it. Known as algor mortis or the "death chill," the decrease in body temperature follows a somewhat linear progression: 1.5 degrees per hour.

The expected decrease in body temperature during algor mortis can help forensic scientists approximate the time of death, assuming the body hasn't completely cooled or been exposed to extreme environmental temperatures.

Explanation: