Mina was a Army Nurse first in the Pacific theater and Mick was an Army Medic in Europe, where he met Mina.

The WW2 Medical Battalion, Infantry Division

Members of the 15th Evacuation Hospital transport wounded troops from Dodge WC-54 Ambulances into Hospital Ward tents. Photograph taken in August, 1944.
Background:

The Medical Battalion was a Divisional medical unit developed to furnish medical support for the Infantry Division. Its primary mission was to organize and conduct the necessary evacuation and medical care for casualties of the Division. Because of the high mobility of the Division, the installations of the Medical Battalion had to be of a more temporary nature and possess increased readiness and ability to maintain contact with the different units of the Division. The Medical Battalion was thus charged with the evacuation of ALL casualties from the Infantry Battalion and Regimental Aid Stations. If for any reason, casualties could not be gathered at the Aid Stations, the Collecting Companies would remove casualties directly from the field.
The Medical Battalion was organized as a kind of ‘miniature’ medical organization in order to maintain the best operative coordination of all the existing facilities and to give flexibility to a possible expansion of the medical service when necessary. It always accompanied the Division in the field!

Organization:


T/O 8-15, April 1, 1942, showing the organization of the Medical Battalion, Infantry Division.
Basic personnel figures (1942 data) : 34 Officers, 470 Enlisted Men, 1 attached Chaplain (of which 24 were Medical Officers, 8 were Medical Administrative Corps Officers, 2 were Dental Officers, and 470 were Enlisted Men – among which 67 Noncommissioned Officers, 52 Technicians, and 351 Privates First Class/Privates).
Vehicles used for transportation numbered (1942 data) : 36 x ¾-Ton Ambulances, 14 x 2-Wheel Cargo Trailers, 7 x 250-Gallon Water Tank Trailers, 9 x ¼-Ton Trucks, 4 x ¾-Ton Command & Reconnaissance Trucks, 3 x ¾-Ton Weapon Carriers, 6 x 1 ½-Ton 4×4 Cargo Trucks, and 16 x 2 ½-Ton 6×6 Cargo Trucks.

Organic Units:

The MEDICAL BATTALION, Infantry Division consisted of:

1 Battalion Headquarters
3 Collecting Companies (usually designated Company A, B, and C)
1 Clearing Company (usually designated Company D)

Diagramatical view of the organization of the Medical Battalion, Infantry Division.
Medical Battalion Headquarters:
Battalion Headquarters was an agency of command and control, consisting of the Commanding Officer (MC), the Executive Officer + Plans & Training Officer (XO + S-3, combined duty), and the Adjutant + Personnel Officer (i.e. MAC + S-1). Another Officer in charge of Intelligence (S-2) was later (1944) added and usually delegated as a Liaison Officer at Division Headquarters. The attached Chaplain was usually present at the Clearing Station. Enlisted personnel employed at Battalion Headquarters were members of the Headquarters & Headquarters Detachment. A Captain of the Hq & Hq Det was the Supply Officer for the Medical Battalion, and also the general Supply Officer of the Division. The CO usually was a Lieutenant Colonel.
Headquarters established the Medical Battalion’s Command Post! This was to be located in vicinity of the Clearing Station, which was the focal point of the Division medical support. Here were located the offices of the Medical Battalion CO and his staff, and the Message Center. A telephone line generally connected the Medical Battalion CP with the Division CP.



Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, Medical Battalion:
The normal functions of the Headquarters & Headquarters Detachment was the daily operation of activities necessary for the complete administration and maintenance of the Medical Battalion through such services as supply – mess – and clerical duty. It further operated the Division’s medical distributing point. The Headquarters Detachment normally set up its installations in vicinity of the Clearing Station and the Medical Battalion CP. By centralizing Battalion Headquarters and the Headquarters Detachment close to the Clearing Station, contact was always rapidly maintained with Collecting Companies by means of Ambulance-borne messages. By dispersing (most important) the transportation equipment and personnel of these installations, there was little likelihood of them being involved in enemy air attacks.

Personnel, exclusive of Battalion Headquarters, usually consisted (1942 data) of : 1 Captain (MAC), 1 First Lieutenant, 2 Second Lieutenants, and 44 Enlisted Men. The total number of available vehicles was 15.

Battalion Headquarters Section: consisted (1942 data) of : 3 Officers and 8 Enlisted Men.

The rest of the Headquarters organization included :


View of a Medical Battalion Command Post
Detachment Headquarters Section: consisted (1942 data) of : 1 Officer and 16 Enlisted Men. The Officer in command was usually a Captain. The Officer in command was later made responsible for Battalion supplies, designated S-4.

Personnel Section: consisted (1942 data) of : 1 Officer and 4 Enlisted Men. The Officer in charge, i.e. a Second Lieutenant was assisted by Personnel Clerks. This particular Section operated under supervision of the S-1 (Adjutant).



General and Medical Supply Section: consisted (1942 data) of : 1 Officer and 8 Enlisted Men. The Officer was either a Second Lieutenant (MAC) or a qualified Warrant Officer. This section operated under supervision of the S-4 (Supply Officer).

Motor Maintenance Section: consisted (1942 data) of : 1 Officer and 8 Enlisted Men. The Officer in charge was a First Lieutenant (MAC). This Section also operated under the S-4.

The COLLECTING COMPANY, Medical Battalion, Infantry Division:
The Medical Battalion had three (3) Collecting Companies, each identical in organization, transportation, and equipment.


Diagram showing the organization of a Collecting Company.
Collecting Companies were the forward echelon of the Division Medical Service. They were the connecting links in the chain of evacuation between Infantry Aid Stations and Division Clearing Stations. Their mission was to:

Remove evacuees from Infantry Regiment Aid Stations to Collecting Stations
Prepare evacuees at the Collecting Stations for further evacuation
Transport evacuees by Ambulance from Collecting Stations to Division Clearing Stations

Method showing how to fill out a Clearing Station Tag, there are two different parts. Obverse side: Section A – Admission and Section B – Disposition; Reverse side: Instructions. This Tag is the early version M.D. Form 53, authorized May 21, 1942 (later superseded by DA Form 8-29 authorized July 12, 1944). It is important to note that the evacuee’s name and ASN are indicated on the Tag by means of an imprinting machine (Addressograph M70)
The major functions of the Collecting Companies were fourfold:

Contact > to establish and maintain contact with the Medical Detachments of combat troops (in the present case, the Regimental Medical Detachment – Infantry Rifle Regiment)
Treat > to establish and operate a Collecting Station, administering the treatment necessary to return minor casualties to their units, or to prepare more seriously injured casualties for further evacuation to the rear
Evacuate > to relieve the Medical Detachments of casualties, moving these to the Clearing Station, or returning them to duty
Transport > to transport casualties to the Clearing Station
Each of the three (3) Collecting Companies was responsible for the collection of all casualties from Aid Stations of the Division, the temporary treatment of these casualties, and their evacuation to the Clearing Station. The Collecting Companies provided medical support for the respective Infantry Regiments. When Standard Operative Procedures (SOP) were in effect, ONE Collecting Company usually accompanied the Regimental Combat Team (RCT). Occasionally an entire Collecting Company would not immediately accompany a combat team to position for battle. Some Collecting Company personnel with Ambulances and/or other transportation could remain behind with the Medical Battalion until such time as they were required in the operation of their Company. Such parts as remained behind constituted a kind of Company reserve, which was temporarily under command of the Medical Battalion CO until called for by the Collecting Company commander. Ambulances and personnel were meanwhile used for short missions, such as for evacuating units on call. Only the Collecting Companies had Ambulances!


T/O 8-17, April 1, 1942, showing the organization of the Collecting Company, Medical Battalion, Infantry Division.
Basic personnel distribution was as follows (1942 data) : 2 Captains, 2 First Lieutenants, 1 Second Lieutenant (MAC), 14 Noncommissioned Officers, 6 Technicians, and 82 Privates First class/Privates.
Vehicles for transportation consisted (1942 data) of : 12 x ¾-Ton Ambulances, 2 x 1-Ton Cargo Trailers, 1 x 250-Gallon Water Tank Trailer, 1 x ¼-Ton Truck, 1 x ¾-Ton Command & Reconnaissance Truck, 2 x 1 ½-Ton Cargo Trucks, and 1 x 2 ½-Ton Cargo Truck.



Company Headquarters:
The Collecting Company Headquarters consisted of 1 Captain and 17 Enlisted Men. The Headquarters was an administrative as well as a tactical organization. It provided for the control, administration, supply and mess of the individual Collecting Company.

Collecting Station Platoon:
The Station Platoon established and operated a Collecting Station for the emergency treatment of casualties being evacuated from the battlefield to the Clearing Station. The Collecting Station itself was set up in several Departments; all casualties brought in from the field passed through the Receiving Department & Property Exchange. Depending on the severity and nature of their injuries, casualties were treated either at the Seriously Wounded or Slightly Wounded Departments. Gas Casualties, if any, were treated at some distance from other casualties in order to prevent possible contamination. After treatment, the wounded requiring further evacuation were sent to the Forwarding & Property Exchange Department, where they were then loaded into Ambulances, while slightly wounded, fit to return to duty, were directed back to their units.

The Station Platoon consisted (1942 data) of 1 Captain, 2 First Lieutenants (both Medical Officers), and 14 Enlisted personnel. For functional purposes the Platoon was divided into a ‘Liaison Section’ and a ‘Collecting Station Section’. Since it was imperative for the Collecting Company to establish and maintain liaison with the aid Stations, a Liaison Section was usually created – T/O do not however prescribe such specific function – so it had to be improvised from well-trained EM, there were normally 4 liaison agents under command of a Sergeant (who usually operated the Message Center as well).


Receiving Department of a Collecting Station in the field
Collecting Platoon:
The Collecting Platoon consisted (1942 data) of 1 Officer (i.e. Second Lieutenant MAC), and 71 Enlisted Men. For functional reasons it was divided into a ‘Litter Bearer Section’ and an ‘Ambulance Section’. It is important to note the subsequent organization of these subsections; for instance, the ‘Litter Bearer Section’ consisted of 1 Sergeant, 1 Corporal, and 40 other Enlisted Men. The Section was subdivided into two small separate groups providing 4 Litter Squads each, it should be noted, that no transportation was provided as an organic part of the Litter Section – while the ‘Ambulance Section’ was commanded by 1 Second Lieutenant (MAC), 1 Staff Sergeant, 1 Sergeant, 1 Corporal, and 26 other EM. The Ambulance Section operated 12 x ¾-Ton Ambulances which represented its organic means of transportation (usually subdivided into two subsections of 2 Ambulance vehicles each).

The primary duty of the Litter Bearer Section was to evacuate casualties from the Aid Stations to the Collecting Stations. When unit Medical Sections were forced to move quickly in order to maintain medical support of units to which they were attached, Litter Bearers would have to clear the battlefield of wounded in the areas abandoned by the Medical Sections. Litter Relay Posts were therefore established with the aim to shorten the distance of the carry and ease the work of the Bearers. The wounded soldier was first carried by Hand Litter to a point on a road or trail, designated Litter Relay Post. Here, the casualty was transferred to a Wheeled Litter, and the Litter Squad then returned to the Aid Station to pick up another casualty. In the meantime the first casualty was taken to the Collecting Station. After delivering the patient, the Wheeled Litter men returned to the Relay Post for another casualty.

The Ambulance Section operated Ambulances which were driven by a Light Truck Driver, assisted by an Orderly. Casualties were ordinarily evacuated by Ambulances from the Collecting Station to the Clearing Station. The vehicles were often used for various missions, picking up casualties when the unit was on the march, either from Collecting Posts or directly from the marching columns, and evacuating them to the Clearing Station. They could also transport sick and injured personnel from camp or bivouac dispensaries to Clearing Stations. Furthermore they provided extra service transporting Litter Bearer Platoons to assembly areas, delivering medical supplies forward, carrying messages to other areas, and administering emergency treatment of casualties during evacuation…

The CLEARING COMPANY, Medical Battalion, Infantry Division:
The Clearing Company of the Medical Battalion operated Clearing Stations as necessary for the sorting and treatment of patients evacuated by the Collecting Companies. Patients were prepared at the Clearing Stations for further evacuation to the rear.


T/O 8-18, April 1, 1942, showing the organization of the Clearing Company, Medical Battalion, Infantry Division.
Primary functions of the Clearing Company included:

Reception > receiving casualties brought into the Clearing Station by Ambulance of the Collecting Companies
Triage > sorting of casualties according to the nature and severity of their injuries
Treatment > administering appropriate treatment to save lives, reduce suffering, and prevent permanent disability
Care and Shelter > providing temporary care and shelter of casualties until their physical condition permitted further evacuation
Slight Injured > returning slightly wounded casualties to duty with their units
Records > preparing appropriate medical records for the patients
Dispensary > operating and running a Dispensary for treatment of personnel of the Medical Battalion when the Division was not engaged in combat
Guard > performing Interior Guard Duty for the Medical Battalion, sharing this duty with the Collecting Companies
The distribution of personnel was (1942 data) as follows : 6 Captains, 6 First Lieutenants, 13 Noncommissioned Officers, 23 Technicians, and 84 other Enlisted Men.

The Clearing Company was further subdivided into 1 Company Headquarters and 2 Clearing Platoons.


Organization of the Clearing Company, showing the 2 Clearing Platoons..
Company Headquarters:
The Company Headquarters was organized to perform the functions of command, administration, mess, supply, and motor maintenance. Company Headquarters established their Command Post at the Clearing Station. Supply Sergeant, Motor Sergeant, Mechanics, Bugler, Truck Drivers, and basic medical personnel, completed the Headquarters and remained with the CP. Headquarters did not operate their own mess but messed with the Clearing Company. When each Clearing Platoon established a separate Clearing Station, the CP simply remained at one of them, while the remainder of the Company Headquarters, such as supply and mess personnel, were divided between them.

The Clearing Company consisted (1942 data) of 1 Captain, 1 First Lieutenant, and 22 Enlisted personnel. The Headquarters operated an administrative as well as a tactical agency.
Vehicles included 1 x 1-Ton Cargo Trailer, 1 x 250-Gallon Water Tank Trailer, 2 x ¼-Ton Trucks, 2 x 2 ½-Ton Cargo Trucks.



Clearing Platoon:
The Clearing Platoon consisted of Medical and Dental Officers, assisted by a fairly large number of Technicians. It operated a Clearing Station which was the last (second echelon) element in the Division medical service. The Station was generally set up in tents or in existent suitable buildings, and was arranged into Departments for administration and treatment of casualties. The installation consisted of a Clearing Station Office, a Receiving Department, with different sections for either Seriously Wounded or Slightly Wounded casualties, a Shock Section, an Operating Section, a Dental Department, a Gas Department (if necessary), extra Wards, a Dispensary (for Medical Battalion personnel, when not in combat), a Laboratory Section, a Supply & Storage Department, a Mess Section, a Forwarding Department, and a Morgue.

There were 2 Clearing Platoons in the Clearing Company, which were identical in organization, transportation and equipment. Each Platoon was capable of operating a Clearing Station, so that it could operate at considerable distances from Company Headquarters. The functions of the Clearing Platoon were largely technical, of a professional nature, so only a small amount of administrative work was necessary.
For command, administration, function, and training, each Clearing Platoon could be further subdivided into 2 separate Sections, a ‘Technical Section’ and a ‘Transportation Section’.


View of Army Ambulances evacuating casualties from a Clearing Station …
Normally one of the 2 Clearing Platoons remained as a reserve in vicinity of the Clearing Station. It could then relieve or reinforce the Clearing Station in operation, or it could be dispatched forward or rearward to establish another Clearing Station for the care of casualties occurring from major fluctuations of the frontline. Platoons of the Clearing Company were to be prepared to reinforce each other in emergencies, or leapfrog each other, according to the number of casualties requiring treatment, and the progress of the combat troops.

Each Clearing Platoon consisted (1942 data) of 5 Officers and 49 Enlisted Men.
Vehicles included 2 x 1-Ton Cargo Trailers, 1 x 250-Gallon Water Tank Trailer, 1 x ¼-Ton Truck, 3 x 2 ½-Ton Cargo Trucks.



Remark:
Frequently during heavy engagements, a Surgical Hospital moved to the vicinity of the Clearing Station to take over cases requiring extra surgical treatment. The advantage was that a Surgical Hospital was equipped with mobile operating rooms and necessary auxiliary equipment to perform major surgical operations. It also had a number of Ambulances in order to evacuate cases requiring urgent surgery from the Clearing Station to its own installations. For administrative purposes, it should be noted that patients evacuated for treatment by a Surgical Hospital were considered removed from the Division, as were those evacuated by higher echelon Ambulances to Evacuation Hospitals.

The conventions of Moonlight are based, in part, on a unique mythology. Some parts of the mythology that are common include a sire, that is the vampire who turns a human into a vampire; though in the show the sire must teach him or her how to live as one. A vampire's bite is not enough to turn a human into a vampire; the human, when near death, must drink the sire's blood or have vampire blood in his or her system at the moment of death. The process of vampirization also affects their genetics, causing their DNA to be fundamentally altered to suit their bodies' new state. This makes genetic testing between vampires and their human relatives impossible unless the vampire has a sample of their own human DNA from before they were turned, such as a lock of hair. They must consume human blood to survive. They also develop psychic powers and can glimpse the future and the past. This ability, along with their night vision, is an extension of their heightened senses.Daylight does not kill vampires, but does make them progressively weaker. Silver and fire are toxic, whereas garlic, holy water and crucifixes are useless. A vampire's image cannot be captured with analogue cameras containing silver emulsion in the film; digital cameras are able to capture an image because they do not use silver emulsion.Though undead, vampires have a pulse, are not cold blooded (but still don't produce body heat as seen in episode 11 so as heat signature cameras won't see them), and cannot turn into a bat. The best ways to kill them are by decapitation or burning; a stake through the heart is painful but only causes paralysis. Moonlight vampires have many of the preternatural abilities as described in vampire mythology; they have superhuman strength and speed, they heal rapidly from any wound, they can defy gravity to a limited degree to perform parkour feats, their bite has hypnotic effects on weak-minded humans, and they are immortal. Their powers increase as they get older. Their blood has drug-like affects when consumed by humans; causing euphoria and temporarily heightened senses.

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A little more than a century ago, vampires stalked Rhode Island. Or rather, New England farm families were digging up dead relatives suspected of being vampires and desecrating the bodies in a misguided effort to protect the living. Often these latter-day vampire hunters removed and burned their loved ones’ heart
Though the corpses were typically re-buried, modern scholars continue to unearth the stories of real-life “vampires,” whose historic tragedies underlie classics like Dracula as well as Hollywood’s latest guilty pleasures.

The practice of disinterring accused vampires likely began in Eastern Europe, spreading to western countries including France and England in the 1700s, and then to rural New England, where vampire panics were common up through the late 1800s – particularly in Rhode Island.At home and abroad, vampire scares usually began when a person died – often of a contagious disease, and in New England almost always of tuberculosis – and others in the vicinity began dying, too, usually of the same sickness. Ignorant of germs, people surmised that the dead person had come back to drain family members’ blood, and the exhumation and staking, burning, beheading and whatever else followed (practices varied with geography) were an effort to insulate the community against further harm. Often the vampire-hunters were not disappointed when they pried open the graves: many natural signs of decay, like bloating and bleeding from various orifices, looked like evidence of midnight feasts.

Here are a few “vampires” from America and elsewhere, the real lives behind our modern legends.

Peter Plogojowitz: This Serbian villager and accused bloodsucker was exhumed and staked through the heart a few weeks after his death in 1725. In his book, “Vampires, Burial, and Death,” folklorist Paul Barber treats Plogojowitz as the quintessential European vampire, because his exhumation closely follows the broader pattern of the superstition. Plogojowitz was the first in his village to die of a sickness, and subsequent local deaths were blamed on his late-night predations. A rather gruesome-sounding autopsy revealed what were considered the tell-tale signs of vampirism:

“I did not detect the slightest odor that is otherwise characteristic of the dead, and the body…was completely fresh,” one witness wrote. “The hair and beard… had grown on him; the old skin, which was somewhat whitish, had peeled away, and a new fresh one had emerged under it … Not without astonishment, I saw some fresh blood in his mouth.”

Arnold Paole: In the early 18th century, this rural Serbian broke his neck after a fall from a hay wagon. Like many others before him, he was accused of posthumous vampirism and exhumed after a series of deaths in his village; many of his supposed victims were dug up as well. Austrian military authorities in control of the region investigated the deaths, and their published account was widely circulated. Paole’s case is thus credited with spreading the vampire superstition to Western Europe, where it took hold before reaching the New World.

Nellie Vaughn: Just 19 years old, she was buried in 1889 in West Greenwich, Rhode Island. Today this so-called vampire is almost as famous as Mercy Brown, whose exhumation was covered by international newspapers. Vaughn’s cemetery has frequently been visited, vandalized and her headstone broken. But in his book, “Food for the Dead,” folklorist and vampire scholar Michael Bell presents evidence suggesting that Vaughn’s is a case of mistaken identity, and that her contemporaries never accused or exhumed her. The superstition probably arose in the last half century or so, and may be a result of confusion with Mercy (who died nearby at a similar date and age) and the admittedly creepy epitaph on Vaughn’s tombstone: “I Am Waiting and Watching For You.”

Frederick Ransom: A Dartmouth College student from a well-respected family in South Woodstock, Vermont, he died of tuberculosis in 1817 and is an example of an educated person ensnared in a vampire panic usually associated with misinformed farmers. Ransom’s father had his body exhumed in the hopes of saving the rest of his family: his heart was burned in a blacksmith’s forge. “However, it did not prove a remedy, for mother, sister, and two brothers died afterward,” Ransom’s surviving brother Daniel later wrote. “It has been related to me that there was a tendency in our family to consumption, and that I…would die with it before I was thirty.” Happily, when Daniel Ransom wrote these words he was more than 80 years old.

Bristoe Congdon’s child: A “black” man named Bristoe Congdon and several of his children died of tuberculosis in Rhode Island in the 1800s. “The body of one of the children was exhumed,” one source wrote, “and the vital parts were burned in obedience to the dicta of this shallow and disgusting superstition.” Though it’s not entirely clear whether Congdon was African-American or American Indian, the case was the first that folklorist Michael Bell has found suggesting that the vampire tradition crossed racial lines.

Annie Dennett: She died of consumption at the age of 21 in rural New Hampshire. In September of 1810, a traveling Freewill Baptist Minister from Vermont named Enoch Hayes Place attended her exhumation, which her family undertook in an effort to save Annie’s father, also sick from tuberculosis. Place’s diary entry is a curious example of the participation of a respected New England minister in a vampire hunt. “They opened the grave and it was a Solemn Sight indeed,” Place wrote. “A young Brother by the name of Adams examined the mouldy Specticle, but found nothing as they Supposed they Should…. There was but a little left except bones.”

Vampires have always been amongst the most popular mythological creatures, from the tales of Bram Stoker to more modern incarnations like those in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight. However, in case you have been living in a cave and these have all bypassed you, here is a brief overview of the vampire legend: vampires are generally believed to be human beings who, in life, were bitten by another vampire and then return after death to feed on the blood of other humans. Vampires are generally assumed to never die naturally but, depending on which adaptation you read, can be killed by exposure to sunlight, garlic, holy water or direct penetration through the heart with a wooden stake. Vampires are now a pretty popular part of modern culture, but how could the myth have first come about?

Although few scientific papers exist on this topic the internet is rife with debate and appears to point to several different medical conditions:

Probably the most popular theory of the origin of the vampire is the disease porphyria: as explained by this article in Scientific American. Porphyria is actually a term for several diseases which are all caused by irregularities in production of heme, a chemical in blood. Some forms of this condition, such as cutaneous erythropoietic porphyria (CEP), lead to deposition of toxins in the skin. Sufferers are often sensitive to light since light activates these toxins. When active, toxins eat away at the skin causing disfigurement, including erosion of the lips and gums. These factors could have led to the corpse-like, fanged appearance that we associate with vampires and their dislike of sunlight. Interestingly, people who suffer from porphyria also have an intolerance to foods that have a high sulphur content…such as garlic.


Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Another possible explanation for vampires is tuberculosis (TB). This is a lung disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The reason this disease has been suggested as the origin of the vampire myth is because victims turn very pale, often avoid the sunlight and cough up blood. This is actually due to the disease damaging the lungs, but it’s easy to see how it could be misinterpreted as someone having recently drunk blood. According to this study, the vampire myth may also have arisen from the fact that TB spreads rapidly and easily from person to person. The infectious nature of this disease may have led to the belief that the vampire rises from the dead to feed on his loved ones, causing them to suffer the same symptoms.

An intriguing alternative explanation is Catalepsy. This is a disease of the central nervous system leading to a slowing of the heart and breathing rate, with sufferers often seizing up completely. These symptoms may have led people to mistakenly believe the sufferer to be dead. Therefore, since these individuals were perceived to have risen from the dead, it is easy to see how this disorder could be linked to paranormal mythology