Dying on DST
October 28, 2006
Tonight at 2AM, daylight savings time goes back one hour (so miraculously we have a repeat of a whole hour. Lifehacker has some tips to share about how you can use this reminder to do some things around the house.
On the topic of DST reversion, I remember when I used to work in the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, the clocks would stop at 1AM and just stay still for a whole hour, until 2AM came around, then they would start again. This apparently was easier than having to forward the clocks 11 hours (these were centrally controlled clocks).
The other thing that always fascinated me (in working in a hospital) was what happened if someone died during that hour. Did they all die at 1AM? If they didn’t, and someone died at 1:53AM, and then the clocks reverted, could you have someone die after another person, but technically die before them?
Important questions, which I never discovered the answer to.
The clocks were reset that way at John Deere as well. I think the answer to your questions are no and no. It’s just a method to set the clocks. When it reaches 2 am CDT, it becomes 1am CST, and that’s all there is to it.