Tonsillectomies bleed, they bleed a lot. Not only immediately post-op, but possibly 10-12 days later when the scab falls off of the surgery site. I have had more than one kid try to make the celestial transfer after having their tonsils removed. Hell, way back when, I was nearly one of them.
That being said, pointing the finger and trying to lay blame for this tragic occurrence is really kind of asinine. We have a young girl who is dead, a distraught family, a hospital who will not perform surgery on the body of the dead girl and all people want to do is lay blame.
I really don't know how long the body will hold out, as long as the heart is beating and O2 is being forcefully delivered, it could take a while. Cut off the artificial respiration and it won't take long, either she breaths or not. Doing a spontaneous respiration trial is not unheard of, but in this case would not be very prudent. If she were breathing on her own, she would also override the vent.
But, the bottom line is pretty simple. People die from routine surgery. In the case of a post op tonsil bleed, it is not that difficult for them to go unnoticed for a while, the child is swallowing the blood so it is possible to bleed a lot more than what it looks like. But, back to the surgery, the child needed it to overcome her tiredness, sleep apnea and incontinence (
http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/17/health/california-girl-brain-dead/ ) so the parents made an informed decision, and signed a consent, and thought everything would be OK. I am sure, somewhere in that consent the issue of bleeding, and even death was covered. It is a tragic situation, but dead is dead, and no amount of time on a vent or in a special facility will change that. I don't think this family will come to that conclusion though, as always in the case of a loved one, you have to hold out hope, no matter how slim.
I hope this case wakes people up, going to a hospital will kill you. There are 99,000 deaths every year from hospital acquired infections. The majority of those are from improper hand hygiene by the staff, and even visitors. If you have to go into a hospital for anything, get out as soon as you can, if you have to stay, hopefully you have someone who can advocate for you. I almost feel sorry for the staff caring for my wife when she is in the hospital, then I realize who I am protecting and don't feel bad at all.
Well, there is my 2 cents worth.
bob